20020421010349A

(-23) On Sunday April, 2002 at approximately 130 5 PDT, after take off from the hard surface runway at the Creswell, Oregon airport, private pilot james richard west and his amateur built "coot" amphibian aircraft crashed and burned in a pasture approximately 1.5 miles west of the airport. Mr. West lost his life in the crash. The aircraft, which was certificated on June 7, 2001, was destroyed by the ensuing fire. The total duration of the flight, which was the pilots first and only flight in the aircraft, was approximately one minute and fifteen seconds. Witnesses who observed the aircraft during flight reported that the aircraft's engine sound was "very odd" and that it "sputtered" before it quit making noise and fell to the ground. Post accident investigation revealed that the propeller would not rotate due to a seized engine. Subsequent tear down of the aircraft's mazda 13B rotary engine revealed that the only presence of oil was in the propeller reduction gear housing. Internal fixed and moving parts of the engine's power section including bearings, pistons, and cylinder walls were burnt blue from overheating. All were severely scorched, glazed, galled, and completely free of oil (dry). No internal parts were broken. (.19) on April 21, 2002, approximately 1305 pacific daylight time, a gallagher taylor "coot" experimental amateur-built airplane, N41RG, was destroyed by impact forces and a post-crash fire in a collision with terrain following a loss of engine power and subsequent loss of control near Creswell, Oregon. The private pilot-in-command, who was the airplane's sole occupant, was fatally injured in the crash. Visual meteorological conditions were reported at mahlon sweet field, eugene, Oregon, at 1254, and there is currently no report of any flight plan being filed for the 14 CFR 91 flight. The accident pilot, who did not hold a mechanic or repairman/experimental aircraft builder certificate (according to the FAA airman registry), had bought the aircraft from a previous owner. The engine installed at the time the accident pilot bought the aircraft, an IO-360 series aircraft engine (manufacturer currently unknown), was subsequently replaced with a mazda 13B rotary automobile engine. An airworthiness inspector from the faa's portland, Oregon, flight standards district office (FSDO) had approved the automotive engine installation. According to the FAA aircraft registry, the aircraft was issued an experimental/amateur-built airworthiness certificate on June 7, 2001, and an airworthiness update was accomplished on September 24, 2001. An FAA inspector reported that the accident flight was the pilot's first flight in the accident aircraft, and that the flight duration prior to the accident was 1 minute and 15 seconds. Initial accident notification information indicated that witnesses heard the accident aircraft's engine cut out. The witnesses reported that the aircraft then nosed down, collided with the ground, and caught fire. The accident site was in a field 1 mile west of the Creswell airport. The 1254 eugene hourly METAR weather observation reported conditions there as: wind from 350 degrees true at 9 knots; visibility 10 statute miles; overcast at 3,200 feet; temperature 13 degrees c; dew point 8 degrees c; and altimeter setting 30.19 inches hg. FAA inspectors who responded to the accident site and performed an on-site examination of the aircraft wreckage reported that they found no evidence of malfunctions in the aircraft's airframe or flight controls. Following the FAA inspectors' on-site wreckage examination, the aircraft's engine was moved to the service facility of kiefer's eugene mazda in eugene, Oregon, where a disassembly examination of the engine was conducted by a mazda service technician under the supervision of the FAA inspectors on April 23, 2002. The disassembly examination disclosed that the engine was seized, with both rotors, an oil pump, and the rotor bearing surfaces exhibiting galling and burn damage consistent with oil starvation. The inspectors reported that a metering oil pump, which supplies oil to the combustion chambers, was noted to be missing from the engine installation, with its drive absent. The mazda service technician reported that further examination disclosed that the oil injection nozzles associated with the missing metering oil pump were also missing from the combustion chambers, and that the nozzle holes were plugged with a non-metallic substance.