20180428004249A

On April 28, 2018, about 1711 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-28R-200, N4363F, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing to highway 369 near gainesville, Georgia. The flight instructor was fatally injured. The commercial pilot and the passenger were seriously injured. The aircraft was registered to and operated by the flight school of gwinnett. This flight was operated as a 14 code of federal regulations part 61 instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight that departed the gwinnett county airport ? Briscoe field (lzu), about 1640.

The aircraft collided with a set of powerlines prior to touching down on the highway. It then struck a car with its right wing, which separated from the airframe, the aircraft then veered to the right, went off the road, and down a steep embankment coming to rest inverted on a northerly heading. From the time the aircraft struck the powerlines to where it came to rest was about 450 ft. there was no post-impact fire to the main wreckage; however, the right wing, which came to rest on the opposite side of the highway from the main wreckage, did catch on fire during the impact sequence. The engine remained attached to the airframe and the two-bladed propeller remained attached to the engine. Both blades exhibited chordwise scoring, curling at the tips and twisting toward the blade faces. Inspection of the engine revealed the cylinder #2 rocker box cover and a pushrod tube could be seen protruding from the left forward side of the cowling. The cowling was removed and the #2 cylinder was observed detached from the cylinder base pad. The #2 rod cap was found at the bottom of the cowling. The left crankcase half was fractured and a portion about 6 inches by 6 inches separated. The separated fragments were also found in the cowling. The #2 fuel injector nozzle was fractured and the upper portion remained attached to the injector line. The #2 intake tube and exhaust tube were removed and the #2 cylinder was removed. The engine was removed from the engine mount and suspended from a lift to facilitate the examination. The propeller was removed and the engine was rotated by turning the crankshaft flange. Continuity of the crankshaft to the rear gears and to the valve train was confirmed. The piston rod/cap bolts (part #75060) on #1, #3 and #4 cylinders were measured and were within tolerance (2.255"-2.256"). Compression and suction were observed from cylinders #1, #3 and #4.