INCIDENT REPORTS How rain brought down a Saratoga


was still effective, so the pilot was able to direct the PA-32 between two ponds ahead, coming to a halt a metre from the edge of one of them. The pilot turn was unhurt. Several days after the accident,


engineers noted that the engine’s paper air filter was swollen and puffy, indicating that it had been very wet. It was replaced and the engine subsequently started and ran normally. It was assessed that the extremely heavy rain had caused the paper element in the air filter to become saturated, starving the engine of air. In 2010, Lycoming had written a


PIPER PA-32R 5M SOUTH OF LINTON-ON-OUSE 23 AUGUST 2017


A pilot flying a turbo-charged PA-32R early one morning from Gamston to Bagby in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) was rained on and saw a large number of returns on his Stormscope as he approached York. Reducing power he descended to


approximately 1,900ft above ground but the rain became very heavy below cloud and, as he was levelling off, the engine stopped. There weren’t any unusual noises before it cut out, nor did it ‘cough’ as it might have from fuel starvation. Unable to restart the engine the


pilot set up a glide and aimed towards a group of small fields as he passed 1,000ft. With an estimated 5kt wind he felt


it better to accept a tailwind than to look for an alternative landing spot and selected landing gear down and full flap at around 200ft. The touchdown was relatively gentle but the pilot could see he was going to pass through an old hedge with numerous trees and bushes. He steered towards a gap but the


right wing and its landing gear broke off, while the outboard section of the left wing also hit a tree. The aircraft then skidded, losing the left landing gear leg in the process. Despite this the nosewheel steering


The wrong moment for electrical failure


PIPER PA-28RT-201 SANDTOFT AIRFIELD, LINCOLNSHIRE 22 JULY 2017


Forty-five minutes into a local flight from Sandtoft a passenger became unwell and the pilot returned. He decided on a straight-in approach, the landing checks were made and the gear was selected down, but two to three seconds later the aircraft lost all electrical power. The pilot checked the circuit breakers, which were all in, and he was concerned that any


faulty electrical circuit might still be live and could cause a fire. As he could see Sandtoft he continued even though the radio had stopped working following the power failure. There were no gear down light indications but the landing gear lever was in the down position and the approach was normal until the propeller struck the ground after which the PA-28 slid to a halt on the runway. The electrical master switch was set to ‘off’ and the fuel cut off before the aircraft stopped. No one was hurt. The landing gear is electrically actuated and it is most probable that it had not locked down before the failure occurred. The fault was traced to a faulty battery master switch.


40 CLUED UP Summer 2018


‘Tech Tips’ document and included the following concerning piston engines: “Several years ago, there was a reported loss of engine power in heavy rain. In that case, a paper air filter was being used. When saturated with water, the paper filter element became swollen so that airflow was impeded. In this case, the use of carburettor heat to bypass the filter and re-leaning to achieve a better fuel/air mixture were successful tactics that kept the aircraft flying until a safe, on-airport landing could be made. We should keep in mind that it is not the ingestion of water through the engine that causes a serious loss of power; it is the reduced airflow”. The aircraft in this accident had a


turbo-charged engine not fitted with carburettor heat.


Weld woes


MERCURY OTHERTON AIRFIELD, STAFFORDSHIRE 2 JULY 2017


While landing on the grass runway the Mercury flexwing touched down on its main wheels followed by the nosewheel which then collapsed, tipping it onto its left side. It travelled a further 10ft before coming to rest and the pilot suffered minor injuries; the passenger was unhurt. An inspection by a third party organisation found a fatigue crack at the edge of a weld on the nose gear that failed under load during landing.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON INCIDENT REPORTS, VISIT AAIB.GOV.UK


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