LAX03LA202

The airplane force landed in a rice field after a partial loss of engine power in the takeoff initial climb. The pilot was departing from a private gliderport on a pipeline patrol fight. During the initial climb out, at an altitude about 200 feet agl, the engine started to run very rough. The pilot attempted to return to the airport runway but realized he did not have sufficient altitude to do so. The airplane crash-landed in a swampy rice field located north of the departure end of the runway. During the accident sequence, the landing gear and both wings were torn off the airplane. Following recovery of the airplane, the engine was started and test run while it was still attached to the airframe. No malfunctions or failures were found with the engine or any related airframe system.

On June 16, 2003, about 1900 Pacific daylight time, a Bellanca 8GCBC, N2558Z, made a forced landing in a rice field after experiencing a partial loss of power while departing Williams Gliderport (Q12), Williams, California. Patroline Air Service was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant, sustained minor injuries; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The pipeline patrol, cross-country flight was en route to Vacaville, California. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The primary wreckage was at 39 degrees 09.48 minutes north latitude and 122 degrees 07.53 minutes west longitude.

The Safety Board investigator-in-charge (IIC) interviewed the pilot via telephone. The pilot related that he was on the initial climb out after taking off from Q12. At an altitude about 200 feet above ground level (agl), the engine started to run very rough. The pilot attempted to return to the airport runway, but realized that he did not have sufficient altitude to do so. The airplane crash-landed in a swampy rice field located north of the departure end of the runway. During the accident sequence, the landing gear and both wings were torn off the airplane.

The pilot received a minor laceration to his left forearm and chipped a front tooth.

The pilot stated that he was the primary pilot of this airplane for the last two years and was very familiar with the airplane. On the first flight of the day, the pilot said that the engine had been hard to start. When the engine did start the pilot said it was running rough, but had smoothed out prior to his departure. For the remainder of the day, the airplane and engine operated normally.

The pilot had refueled the airplane to full capacity (70 Gallons) about two and half hours of flight time prior to the accident. The pilot stated that he had about 35 gallons fuel remaining prior to take-off. Witnesses at the accident scene observed fuel leaking from the wings of the airplane.

The airplane was a Bellanca 8GCBC, serial number 26278. A review of the airplane's logbooks revealed a total airframe time of 5,309.8 hours at the last 100-hour inspection. An annual inspection was completed on July 26, 2002. The tachometer read 1995.3 at the last inspection. The tachometer read 2071.3 at the accident scene.

The airplane had a Lycoming O-360-C2E engine, serial number L-21750-36A, installed. Total time on the engine at the last 100-hour inspection was 5,424.2 hours.

Examination of the maintenance and flight department records revealed no unresolved maintenance discrepancies against the airplane prior to departure.

Investigators examined the wreckage at Plain Parts, Sacramento, California, on February 9, 2004.

The investigators manually rotated the engine and all valves moved in sequence with relatively the same amount of lift. They obtained thumb compression on all cylinders in firing order. Investigators removed the top spark plugs. All gaps were similar and no plug exhibited mechanical damage. All of the plugs had circular electrodes, which were gray in color. A bore scope inspection revealed no mechanical deformation on the valves, cylinder walls, or internal cylinder head. The left magneto timing was 25 degrees BTDC (before top dead center) and the right magneto was 24 degrees BTDC. The engine data plate specified that the timing should be 25 BTDC. The left magneto had an impulse coupling, which clicked at TDC during engine rotation. None of the push rod shrouds were bent.

Recovery personnel plumbed a fuel supply into the left wing main supply line. The engine started and was run at idle for a warm up period of a couple of minutes. Blue smoke initially came out of the exhaust, and then the exhaust cleared. The oil pressure stabilized at 70 psi, and the cylinder head temperature climbed to 300 degrees.

The operator ran the engine up to 1,500 rpm. He completed a magneto check by grounding bared wires to the airframe. He observed a smooth 50-rpm drop on the first magneto and a rough 75-rpm drop on the second magneto. He then ran the engine at 1,800 rpm for a minute and completed another magneto check. The first magneto had a smooth drop of 50 rpm, and the second magneto had a smooth drop of 50 rpm. He ran the engine at idle and observed an idle speed of 500 rpm.