20230813013789A

A/c was enroute from north Texas regional airport (kgyi) to wiley post airport (kpwa) when it experienced a loss of power.

At approximately 1250 local time, the pilot of a/c declared an emergency with the wiley post airport air traffic control. The pilot reported that he was losing power, had 60 gallons of fuel onboard, and asked for a road to land on. A/c was approximately 11 miles east/southeast of kpwa when the loss of power occured. A/c continued a northerly heading.

At approximately 1254, a/c struck two power lines running east/west across I-235. The power lines were some 100 feet high and a/c struck and broke the 2nd and 3rd wires from the top. The lower fuselage, nose area, exhaust tailpipe struck one wire causing a depression in the tailpipe. The right wing struck the other wire, separating some 2 feet of the right wing and right wing tip. The section of the right wing and tip were discovered near where the wire strikes occurred. N7910P travelled another 250 feet before striking the ground at near vertical nose down attitude. The left wingtip made contact with the west-sloping ground. A/c continued through an impact sequence that; collapsed the left wing from the tip to the root, separating all wing structure from the fuselage, separated the propeller from the engine at the propeller flange, pushed the engine to the aircraft left several inches. A/c came to rest pointing on a heading of about 175 degrees. Fuel blighting was observed in a fan pattern originating from initial point of contact and spread up to the wreckage.

Aircraft: the aircraft came to rest point on a heading of approximately 175 degrees. Primary flight control continuity appeared to be intact at the time of the accident. The left and right ailerons were separated from the wing and near their respective wings. The rudder was intact and movable. The stabilator was intact and movable. The flaps were in the near up position. The controls/switch placement noted are as follows: master-on, fuel pump-on, left landing light-on, right landing light-off, turn & bank-on, strobe-on, pitot heat-off, magnetos-off, all engine controls-forward, data recorder-on, gear selector-up, pfd-on, ap-on, trim-off, PFD cb-popped, access & adf cb-popped, fuel selector-right main.

Fuel: the fuel selector was found in the right main tank position. The right main fuel tank did not appear to have any fuel in that tank. Further inspection revealed only trace amounts of what appeared to be 100LL. The right auxillary fuel tank was observed to be full of fuel as the aircraft rested in place. 14.5 gallons of clear blue liquid that resembled 100LL was removed for the right wing auxillary fuel tank. The left wing main and auxillary fuel tanks were compromised during the accident sequence. During further review of the wreckage, the right wing was placed in a near level attitude, the main and auxillary fuel tanks were filled completely with liquid, and there were no leaks observed. With those tanks full, the fuel selector valve was moved to and from each of those tanks and the valve worked respectively for each tank in the right wing.

Propeller: the propeller was broken from the engine at the propeller flange. Two blades were bent with no “s” bending. The first blade to impact showed some radial scaring/scratching and was disconnected from the pitch change mechanism, the second blade showed less radial scaring/scratching and the third blade did not show much scaring scratching and did not appear to be bent. Both the second and third blades were still connected to the pitch change mechanism and were still seated in their perspective bearings.

Engine: the engine was observed as pushed over to the right side of the aircraft and aft. There was some denting in the rocker covers. The carburator was broken off at the flange. All fuel plumbing appeared to be intact. The propeller governer was intact and bent at the top of the pitch change input