At approximately 1305 Pacific time, a Coot amateur-built airplane crashed after losing power on takeoff near Creswell. The pilot was killed. Records show the pilot had recently bought the airplane and replaced the IO-360 aviation engine with a Mazda 13B rotary automotive engine. The accident was the owners first flight in the airplane. The engine failed 1 minute, 15 seconds into the flight. Examination of the engine showed it had been installed without a drive on its metering oil pump and that the oil injection nozzles associated with the metering pump were missing from the combustion chambers. The nozzle holes were plugged with a non-metallic substance.
April 21, Creswell, Ore. / Coot
At approximately 1305 Pacific time, a Coot amateur-built airplane crashed after losing power on takeoff near Creswell. The pilot was killed. Records show the pilot had recently bought the airplane and replaced the IO-360 aviation engine with a Mazda 13B rotary automotive engine. The accident was the owners first flight in the airplane. The engine failed 1 minute, 15 seconds into the flight. Examination of the engine showed it had been installed without a drive on its metering oil pump and that the oil injection nozzles associated with the metering pump were missing from the combustion chambers. The nozzle holes were plugged with a non-metallic substance....
Key Takeaways:
- An amateur-built aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff, killing the pilot, during its first flight following a non-standard engine replacement.
- The crash resulted from a loss of power in a recently installed automotive Mazda 13B rotary engine.
- Investigation revealed critical installation errors with the new engine, specifically a non-functional metering oil pump and missing oil injection nozzles, which likely caused the engine failure.
Key takeaways sponsored by Aviator Pro | Start Your Training ->
See a mistake? Contact us.
