27 Sep 20198:25 reconstruction9K views

Pilot Walks Away Alive After Plane Catches Fire During Highway Landing

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Engine Power Loss Ends With Highway Landing and Post-Impact Fire

On September 27, 2019, a light aircraft lost engine power during a cross-country flight and was forced onto a highway. The landing did not end with a conventional runway stop. The right wing struck a light pole, the airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted, and a post-impact fire consumed much of the aircraft.

The pilot survived.

The available investigation record is notable because it does not provide a satisfying mechanical explanation for the original power loss. The pilot reportedly experienced partial power loss about 20 minutes from the destination airport. In response, the pilot switched fuel tanks, turned on the fuel pump and carburetor heat and reduced engine power.

The engine then lost total power. With no useful propulsion available, the pilot performed a forced landing to a highway.

During the landing, the aircraft's right wing struck a light pole. The impact caused the airplane to overturn and come to rest inverted. Both fuel tanks were breached and thermally damaged, and a fire followed.

The fire is therefore a post-impact event rather than evidence that the engine itself caught fire before the landing. That distinction matters because the investigation found no evidence of a pre-impact mechanical malfunction in the engine.

Investigators examined the engine and found compression in each cylinder when the crankshaft was rotated by hand. The carburetor was intact and free of debris. The electric fuel pump was operational. The magneto had been damaged by impact but produced spark at all twelve leads.

The fuel selector was not recovered, however, and the available evidence was insufficient to establish exactly why the engine had lost power.

The probable cause was consequently stated narrowly: a total loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined from the available evidence.

That conclusion is less dramatic than claiming a specific fuel-system or ignition failure, but it is more useful. The investigation had physical evidence from the engine, yet it still could not prove the initiating failure.

The survival outcome also deserves attention. A highway landing involving an aircraft that subsequently overturns and burns can become fatal very quickly. In this case, the pilot survived the impact and the resulting fire.

The event therefore contains two separate problems: the unexplained loss of power and the hazards created by the forced landing itself. The first could not be resolved conclusively by the examination. The second produced substantial aircraft damage and fire but did not kill the pilot.

Accident Facts

Date
September 27, 2019
Event
Engine Power Loss Ends With Highway Landing and Post-Impact Fire
Category
Incident / Emergency
Timeline
September 27, 2019 —
The pilot was conducting a cross-country flight.
1.
About 20 minutes from the destination —
The engine lost partial power.
2.
Troubleshooting —
The pilot switched fuel tanks, activated the fuel pump and carburetor heat, and reduced power.
3.
Total power loss —
The engine subsequently stopped producing power.
4.
Forced landing —
The pilot selected a highway.
5.
Landing —
The right wing struck a light pole and the aircraft nosed over.
6.
Post-impact —
The airplane came to rest inverted and a fire consumed much of it.
7.
Examination —
Investigators found no evidence of a pre-impact engine malfunction that explained the loss of power.
8.
Finding —
The reason for the total loss of engine power could not be determined.
9.
The most important finding is therefore an absence of certainty. The aircraft lost power, but the investigation did not prove why. A responsible reconstruction has to leave that uncertainty intact.
10.
The post-impact examination also demonstrates why investigators avoid assigning a cause from the radio recording alone. The pilot's actions before the forced landing provide clues about the problem, but only the physical examination can establish whether the engine contained a failure that existed before impact.
11.
In this case, the engine examination was largely negative. Compression was present, the carburetor was intact, the electric fuel pump worked and the magneto produced spark. Those findings did not identify the reason for the original power loss.
12.
That uncertainty is itself a finding. It prevents the accident from being turned into a convenient but unsupported story about fuel, ignition or mechanical seizure.
13.

Sources

Audio from the original air traffic control recording, sourced from public recordings and released investigation records. The reconstruction, animation and written account are our own.
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