The plt stated the purpose of the flt was to drop parachute jumpers. The jumpers deplaned at 8500 ft msl and the plt reduced pwr for a descent and landing at the arpt of departure. He stated he did not apply carb heat during the entire descent and he entered the traffic pattern with reduced pwr.During final apch, he applied throttle but the eng would not respond, it would only run rough. The plt stated the acft was descending rapidly and it was obvious he would not be able to land on the arpt. He landed the acft in a plowed, muddy fld where it nosed over.
Category: 1985
As the plt & 16 jumpers deptd on a skydiving flt, the eng lost pwr at aprx 300′ agl. The acft then banked steeply left, spiraled in a steep nose dwn attitude & crashed. An exam revealed fuel in the tanks was contaminated with wtr & foreign material with the appearance of brown algae. Milky fluid (aprx 65% jet fuel & 34% wtr) was fnd in the eng fuel control, as well as iron contaminants. Dark stringy material was fnd in the fuel filters. The acft had been refueled fm 55 gal drums which contained contaminated fuel. The drums were stored upright & rain water could leak thru the filler caps. N551cc had a history of fuel contamination which on occasions caused the fuel bypass indicator to display. Rprtdly, the stall warning circuit brkr had been disengaged on other occasions, so as not to startle the jumpers; however, due to dmg, its preimpact psn could not be verified. Acft was estd to be 370 lbs ovr its max wt lmt & 1′ fwd of the cg lmt. The9 pax seats had been rmvd to haul up to 18 jumpers. Pax seat belts were not used. Lack of faa surveillance was noted.
Shortly after the acft took off with 4 skydivers on board, its eng seized at an alt of about 300 to 400 ft. The plt selected the best available area to land which was a field of tall corn on rolling terrain. During the emerg landing, the acft nosed over. Later, the eng was disassembled & aprx 1 qt of finely ground ferreous material was found deposited in the lower oil pan. The main bearings were found scored & discolored, & the main bearing shells showed evidence of overheating. The connecting rods were also discolored from heat. The screen chamber of the oil pump was found full of ferrous metal which shut off the oil supply to the oil pump gears. The faa maint inspector who examined the eng stated that the ferrous material found in the eng & bottom pan was not from the eng. The source of the material was not determined.
The plt transported a load of skydivers to alt & was returning to the airstrip. During arrival, he decided to practice a simulated eng out landing. While on an apch with full flaps, the plt elected to slip the acft. As he was transitioning from a side slip to a normal landing attitude, the acft suddenly dropped, landed hard & bounced. The plt reported that on the 2nd touchdown, the nosewheel hub failed, the prop struck the rwy & the nose gear was bent.
The preflight, engine runup and initial takeoff were uneventful. At approx 600 ft agl the engine sputtered for two or three seconds then stopped. The pilot turned back toward the runway but was too low. He crash landed in a gravel quarry after clipping power lines. No engine abnormalities were noted during a subsequent engine teardown. The reason for the engine failure could not be determined. The operator believed that either the mixture control had backedoff during the climb ot that the parachutist in the front rt seat had inadvertently pulled the mixture off with a piece of her equipment during the climb, causing the power loss.
The aircraft’s left engine caught fire during the takeoff roll. The pilot managed to stop the aircraft on the runway and all 31 skydivers and the two member crew evacuated without injury. The left engine propeller had lost one blade which was found several days later 3000 feet west of the wreckage. There was no evidence found to substantiate compliance with a mandatory airworthiness directive on the propeller blade.
The plt reported that he preflighted the acft & decided there was sufficient fuel to haul skydivers on 2 more flts. On the 2nd flt, he had to make three passes instead of one. During the apch to the arpt, the eng lost power from fuel exhaustion. The plt tried to reach the rwy, but landed short on plowed terrain. The wheels dug into the plowed terrain, the nose gear collapsed & the acft nosed over. The plt had planned a fuel consumption rate of 12.1 gal/hr. However, the actual fuel consumption (after installation of a new eng) was 12.8 gal/hr.
Inadvertent opening of parachute in aircraft during climb to jump altitude pulled jumper from aircraft. Jumper struck right horizontal tail. Control of aircraft was lost and the pilot and the other three jumpers exited the aircraft, deployed their chutes and landed uninjured. The aircraft impacted the ground in a vertical or near vertical dive.
After discharging parachutists at 7500 ft msl the plt closed the throttle and descended to 1200 ft without clearing the engine. No pwr was available when the throttle was advanced upon reaching 1200 ft. A forced landing was made in a bean fld and the acft nosed over after contacting a rut. Environment and power conditions were conductive to carb ice.
The student plt flying n94560 was making her 1st solo touch and go landing when control of the acft was lost. Upon touchdown, n94560 veered left, departed the rwy and collided with n3854d which was being taxied on the grass aprx 20 ft from the rwy.