SEA99LA011

While climbing out from a touch-and-go landing, the airplane experienced a partial loss of engine power approximately 300 feet above ground level. The instructor took the controls and performed a 180-degree turn back to an opposite direction landing attempt on the departure runway, in order to avoid going into high-tension lines 1,660 feet from the departure end. There was approximately a 15-knot tail wind for the opposite-direction forced landing attempt. The airplane touched down approximately at midfield at high speed, overran the end of the runway, struck a fence and nosed over. Weather conditions in the area at that time posed a hazard of serious carburetor icing at cruise power. The accident aircraft's engine was successfully test-run after the accident.

On November 7, 1998, approximately 1533 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 152, N6312P, registered to and operated by Auburn Flight Service of Auburn, Washington, as a 14 CFR 91 dual instructional flight, experienced a loss of engine power during climbout following a touch-and-go takeoff from runway 34 at Auburn Municipal Airport, Auburn, Washington. During the ensuing forced landing, in which the flight instructor performed a 180-degree turn back to an opposite-direction landing attempt on Auburn Municipal runway 16, the airplane overran the end of runway 16, struck a fence, and nosed over. The aircraft was substantially damaged, and the flight instructor (a commercial pilot) and student pilot received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight from Auburn Municipal.

The flight instructor reported that fuel prior to takeoff was 12 gallons (half the airplane's usable fuel capacity). The instructor reported that the flight began with a takeoff from runway 34 into a closed traffic pattern for a landing and departure on runway 34. The flight instructor reported the wind as 12 to 15 knots, directly down the runway. The instructor stated:

...We departed the runway at normal takeoff speed and climbed to approximately 300' with [the student] at the controls. After hearing the engine lose power I immediately informed her that I had the flight controls and she acknowledged. I checked the RPM gage and it was around 1500 RPM, the throttle was completely in. The engine was still not producing power so I immediately looked up and saw high tension power lines directly ahead, I made the decision to turn left at 300' and not take us into the power lines. I continued my turn keeping the speed up as much as possible to avoid a stall. I told my student to declare an emergency over the radio and she did. We descended and made a landing opposite traffic on runway 16 at Auburn Airport.

We landed approximately halfway down the runway and began to decelerate. Our speed at touch-down [sic] was approximately 75-80 [knots]. I began max braking but because of the tail wind I could not stop on the runway, we departed the end of runway 16 and entered the grass overrun. Braking at that point was minimal because of the grass surface, I decided to continue straight ahead with a slight left turn to avoid the fence. The aircraft did not respond and impacted the fence at approximately 5 [knots]. The nose wheel then went into the ditch behind the fence and the aircraft flipped over on its back....

The student pilot reported through counsel:

...Run-up prior to takeoff was normal with no indication of any trouble. Everything checked out OK on the pre-flight checklist, including a proper drop in rpm when I checked carburetor heat. We took off on Runway 34 at Auburn, climbed to 300 feet, lowered the nose... then climbed and turned crosswind at 500 feet, checking the engine RPM....At the [traffic pattern altitude], I turned to downwind and reduced the RPM to 2100. I did my pre-landing preparation following the checklist and pulled the Carburetor Heat control to the "On" position, at the beginning of the downwind....

During roll-out [the instructor] asked me to make it a Touch and Go.... He put up the flaps, I pushed in the throttle and carburetor heat was the last thing off....We lifted off at about the Wind Tee [just beyond the midpoint of the runway]. It was a strong headwind and I rotated at a higher airspeed than normal....I was working at getting the airspeed to Vy. It was at this time that [the instructor] told me, "I got the plane." I did what I was taught and relinquished control to him. He promptly did a 180 degree turn and asked me to make the radio call for an Emergency Landing - Engine Failure. I did that and watched for traffic because we were now flying into the oncoming traffic....We floated a short distance, flared then landed but were going fast. [The instructor] applied the brakes. He let go of the brakes and we went onto the grass at an angle. His side of the plane went first into the decline in the grass then we hit the fence and flipped.... Two witnesses reported that during the forced landing, the airplane landed approximately halfway down the runway at a relatively high speed.

Renton Municipal Airport, Renton, Washington (10 nautical miles north of Auburn), reported the following conditions in its 1553 automated METAR observation: winds from 340 degrees at 18 knots; 10 statute miles visibility; ceiling 25,000 feet broken; temperature 11 degrees C (52 degrees F); dewpoint 6 degrees C (43 degrees F); and altimeter setting 29.79 inches Hg. According to FAA carburetor ice hazard prediction data, the temperature/dewpoint combination reported in the 1553 Renton METAR observation represents a hazard of serious carburetor icing at cruise power.

A test run of the accident aircraft's Lycoming O-235-L2C engine was conducted at the operator's maintenance facilities under FAA supervision on November 10, 1998. The test was performed with the engine remaining mounted to the airframe of the accident aircraft. The FAA inspector supervising this test reported that the engine was successfully started and run up to 1,600 RPM (he stated the condition of the engine mount precluded testing to a higher RPM), and that it was his belief that the engine would have been able to attain its full rated power had the engine mount condition not limited the maximum safe RPM at which the engine could be operated. The FAA inspector reported, "A malfunction of the engine could not be determined to cause the reported power loss."

Auburn Municipal has one runway, 16-34. The asphalt-surfaced runway is 3,400 feet long and 75 feet wide; the operator's NTSB accident report gave the runway surface condition as dry. The airport elevation is 57 feet above sea level. An east-west high-voltage power transmission line, rising to 83 feet above ground level, crosses the runway extended centerline 1,660 feet north of the runway.