NYC02LA114

The pilot departed from a private airstrip on his property for a local flight. After becoming airborne, and passing through about 400 feet, he smelled and observed smoke coming from under the instrument panel. He immediately returned, and overflew the departure airstrip. The pilot then maneuvered the airplane to land in the same direction he departed. As the airplane turned final, it entered an uncontrolled descent and turned left. The pilot reported that he was unable to affect the descent or heading with the use of flight controls. The airplane impacted the ground in a nose low attitude, and the nose landing gear fork was bent aft and to the right. The fuselage was buckled on the left side and bent to the left. There was no evidence of burnt wires. However, oil leakage from the push rods onto the engine muffler was found. Nothing was found that would have contributed to a power loss. The pilot's total flight experience was 250 hours, with 30 hours in make and model, and 1 hour in the preceding 90 days.

On June 16, 2002, about 2000 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 150K, N6319G, was substantially damaged when it struck the ground during a precautionary landing in Seaman, Ohio. The certificated private pilot received minor injuries, and the passenger was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local flight. No flight plan had been filed for the personal flight that was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

The pilot reported that he had a private airstrip located on his property, and intended to make a local flight. He inspected the airplane and departed to the northwest from the private airstrip. Climbing through about 400 feet above the ground, he observed and smelled smoke coming from under the instrument panel. The pilot immediately turned back toward the airstrip, and passed over the airstrip about 400 feet high. He then circled to come back for a landing, and as he turned the airplane to final approach, "it quite flying, and veered to the left." The pilot reported that the flight controls did not have any affect on the airplanes flight path. The pilot also reported that he thought the engine lost power about the same time as the airplane quit flying.

According to an inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the airplane touched down at the end of a level pasture, about 1,500 feet from the approach end of the runway. The airplane overran the level ground, and continued downhill for about 100 feet. The lower cowling was crushed up and rearward. The nose wheel fork was bent aft and to the right with the nosewheel separated from the nosewheel fork. The fuselage aft of the cabin was buckled to the left. One propeller blade was bent aft, and dirt was impacted on the leading edge of the bent blade. The top surface of the wings were wrinkled.

A follow-up inspection of the airplane was conducted by a certificated mechanic with the FAA inspector in attendance. According to the FAA inspector, finger compression was attained in all cylinders, and the magnetos operated normally. The "P" leads were attached and the magneto switch operated normally. The fuel strainer contained a small amount of sediment. The carburetor, venturi and associated parts were checked, and drained; and no abnormalities found. No evidence of burns or discoloration were found on any electrical wiring.

Oil was found leaking from the pushrods on both sides of the engine. Burned oil was found on the muffler. No other oil leakage was found.

During a telephone interview, the FAA inspector reported that fuel was found in both fuel tanks, and oil was found in the engine. With the spark plugs removed, the engine was rotated, with no evidence of binding.

The pilot reported that his total flight experience was 250 hours. He also reported that in the preceding 12 months, he had accumulated about 8 hours. In the preceding 6 months, he had flown the airplane once in February, and then again in June. There were three or four short flights in June, with a total accumulation of about 1 hour in the 90 days that preceded the accident flight.