Carson City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Carson City, Nevada 89706
Sunday, June 4, 2000 12:42 PDT

The airplane collided with the ground during an off airport forced landing after the airplane began losing altitude immediately after lift off. In the morning, the pilot had flown from another airport direct at 13,500 feet without experiencing any problems and intended to take 3 passengers up on a local flight. On the accident flight, he completed a full power run up and leaned to slightly rich of best power. His run up was normal, the engine was running smoothly, and he felt that it was developing full power. He had picked a go-no-go point that he estimated was about 2,000 feet down the runway. The airplane accelerated normally and lifted off well before his selected go-no-go point. The airplane attained expected climb speed, but a less than expected climb rate. All of the instruments seemed to be within normal ranges, but the airplane stopped climbing. The airplane was approaching the end of the runway and steadily losing altitude. The pilot set up for the off airport landing but saw a berm directly ahead. In order to avoid the obstruction, he aggressively pushed the yoke forward, and applied full right rudder. The left wing speared into the ground and the airplane cart wheeled. The spark plugs for cylinder no. 2 were lighter in color than the others. Investigators observed an unidentified particle obstructing the cylinder no. 2 fuel injection nozzle, and water in the fuel flow divider. The flow divider diaphragm was intact and undamaged. The engine driven fuel pump's internal cavities displayed areas of corrosion. The valve bodies had areas of rust where material was missing. Sediment was resting on the compensator diaphragm. The gascolator was clean. The fuel servo fuel inlet screen was not contaminated. Examination of the fuel injector servo revealed internal corrosion, and contamination by a large piece of black contamination on the unmetered side of the diaphragm. The servo flowed satisfactorily during the bench test, but was somewhat rich. A review of the airplane's logbooks revealed an overhaul of the injection system at the same time of an engine overhaul in November 1998. A logbook entry dated January 17, 2000, noted an ultrasonic cleaning of the fuel nozzles. The density altitude was computed to be 7,680 feet.

a loss of engine power due to contamination of the fuel system resulting in partial blockage of the cylinder number 2 fuel injection nozzle. A factor in the accident was the high density altitude.