NTSB Factual Report

On August 14, 2014, about 1445 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-28-161, N706GS, was substantially damaged during a forced landing shortly after takeoff from Buffalo International Airport (BUF), Buffalo, New York. The flight instructor and two passengers were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local instructional flight, which was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.

The flight instructor was providing an introductory flight to both of the passengers, and following an uneventful preflight inspection and run-up check of the airplane's engine, began taxiing to the departure runway. During the taxi, air traffic control offered, and the flight instructor accepted, an intersection departure from runway 23 at its intersection with runway 14. The flight instructor subsequently guided the front seated passenger through the takeoff. Shortly after rotation, the engine experienced a total loss of power. The instructor responded by verifying that the throttle and mixture controls were both pushed fully forward. The engine then resumed producing power, and the instructor elected to return to the airport and land.

As the flight instructor turned the airplane left toward runway 32, the engine again experienced a total loss of power. She attempted to restore engine power and verified the position of the throttle, mixture, and auxiliary fuel pump, but heard the aural stall warning sound. She then lowered the airplane's nose and decided to forgo troubleshooting the engine, as the airplane was close to the ground. During the subsequent forced landing, the airplane struck several bushes, and eventually landed hard in a parking lot adjacent to the airport, resulting in substantial damage to the airframe.

The airplane was recovered from the accident site to the operator's maintenance facility for initial examination. Both wings remained attached to the fuselage, and the fuselage exhibited extensive damage to the left and right lower structure from the firewall aft to the aft bulkhead. Both of the propeller blades were damaged, with one blade tip bent slightly forward and the other bent slightly aft. The firewall and engine mounts were impact damaged, and the engine controls were not free to move, due to deformation of surrounding components. The fuel system to the engine was examined, and fuel was found within the engine-driven fuel pump, fuel boost pump, and fuel filter bowl, and the carburetor float bowl. A fuel sample was tested for the presence of water, none was noted. The fuel selector was found on the right tank position, and was free to move through all positions.

The right wing was attached to the fuselage and the fuel tank was intact with its fuel cap installed. The right fuel tank vent was unobstructed. The left wing was partially attached to the fuselage, and the fuel tank was intact, with its fuel cap installed. Flight control continuity was confirmed from each control surface to the cockpit. The stabilator trim actuator was measured, and correlated to a slightly nose-up pitch trim setting. The rudder trim was fully nose right, as observed on the cockpit trim indicator. The flaps were found in the fully retracted position.

While still attached to the airframe, an abbreviated engine test run was performed. The engine was started, allowed to idle, then the throttle was advanced. A heavy vibration was noted at any engine power setting above idle. The engine was then shut down and the propeller was replaced with a like-pitched and diameter propeller. The engine was then restarted and could be accelerated to an approximate setting slightly above 1,000-1500 rpm. Due to the un-balanced condition of the second propeller, the engine run was suspended without testing at any higher power setting.

The engine was subsequently removed from the airframe and forwarded to the engine manufacturer for a full-power test run. After mounting in a test cell, the engine was started and run in accordance with the manufacturer's standard engine run-in procedure. The engine produced full rated power during the test, and no anomalies were noted. Following the test run, the carburetor was tested and examined in detail and tested in accordance with the manufacturer's standard procedures. No anomalies were noted during the testing or disassembly examinations.

According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness and aircraft registration records, the airplane was manufactured in September 2013. Review of maintenance records revealed that the airplane's most recent 100-hour inspection was completed on August 13, 2014. At that time the airframe and engine had accumulated 187 total hours of operation. No discrepancies of the engine were discovered during the inspection.

The flight instructor held a commercial pilot certificate with numerous ratings including airplane single engine land. She also held a flight instructor certificate with a rating for airplane single engine. She held an FAA-issued first-class medical certificate, and her most recent flight review was completed in December 2013. She had accumulated 453 total hours of flight experience, of which 352 hours were in the accident airplane make and model. She had accumulated 51 hours of flight experience in the 30 days preceding the accident.

The runway configuration at BUF resembled an 'X' layout. Runway 23 was 8,829 feet long by 150 feet wide, and was intersected by runway 14 about 4,175 feet from the runway 23 threshold.

NTSB Probable Cause

A total loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined because a postaccident examination of the airframe and engine test run revealed no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.