CEN21LA133

The pilot departed for the aerial application flight and noticed an abnormal engine sound as the airplane reached an altitude of about 25 ft above ground level. Concerned that the engine could lose power over obstacles further along the departure leg that included a high traffic highway and a low power line, the pilot elected to make an immediate precautionary landing. During the landing roll, both wings sustained substantial damage due to impact with trees. During postaccident examination of the engine, a small amount of water was observed in the rear carburetor bowl; therefore, it is likely that water-contaminated fuel resulted in a temporary loss of engine power and the abnormal engine sound reported by the pilot. An engine run was conducted with no anomalies noted.

On February 9, 2021, about 1730 central standard time, an Aero Commander S2R airplane, N5679X, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Alamo, Texas. The commercial pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 aerial application flight. The pilot departed from Mid-Valley Dusters Inc. Airport (43TX) on the last flight of the day and noticed an abnormal sound from the engine as the airplane reached an altitude of about 25 ft above ground level. He elected to make an immediate precautionary landing rather than risk having the engine lose power over obstacles farther along the departure path that included a high traffic highway and a low power line. During the landing roll, both wings sustained substantial damage due to impact with trees. Examination of engine cylinders, spark plugs, induction tubes, exhaust stacks, and magnetos did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The fuel tank sumps, header tank sumps, and manual auxiliary fuel pump sumps were drained with no contamination noted. The rear carburetor bowl drain was removed, and a small amount of water-contaminated fuel was observed. The engine was started and accelerated to 1,800 rpm with no anomalies noted. A normal rpm drop occurred when the magnetos were checked, and the propeller cycled normally. No smoke was produced when the engine was returned to idle power, which was consistent with normal functioning of the blower seal.