NTSB Factual Report

On July 6, 2007, about 1215 eastern daylight time, N43207, registered as an experimental amateur-built Hesler Zodiac CH 601 HDS airplane, piloted by an airline transport rated pilot, sustained substantial damage on impact with terrain following a reported partial loss of engine power during takeoff from the Bloom Airport, near Jamestown, Ohio. A post-impact ground fire occurred. The instructional flight was operating under 14 CFR Part 91. No flight plan was on file. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The pilot and passenger sustained minor injuries. The flight was originating at the time of the accident and was destined for the Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport, near Springfield, Ohio.

The pilot reported that he had changed the gas tank lid prior to the flight. The pilot stated that the new lid sealed better than the original lid. The pilot's accident report, in part, stated:

Once on the straightaway I advanced the throttle all the way in and

raised the nose to the pitch attitude I thought should be sufficient to

get us airborne relatively quickly. We did not get airborne as soon as

I thought we should have. I figured that perhaps I was just not used

to the site picture from the right seat and it had been about six weeks

since I had flown the Zodiac. I had flown 80 hours during those six

weeks, but in an Air-bus 330. Another thing which made this takeoff

different was the corn. The corn was over six foot high on my right,

essentially a wall blocking my view of the horizon. The other thing

the corn did was block my view of the hanger. I could not judge how

far down the runway I had gone by referencing my position in relation

to the hangers on the airfield. My view forward was blocked by the

cowling of the aircraft raised in the takeoff attitude. I was hurtling

down a canyon not sure how much runway I had left. At the end of

runway 24, the drainage canal which parallels the left side of the

runway makes a 45 degree turn to the right and runs across the runway

centerline. I needed to be in the air before then. I raised the nose a

little more and became airborne. But, she settled back down to the

runway. Something did not feel right, I should have aborted on this

gut feel. As I said before, I have touched down accelerating in ground

effect on other takeoffs at Bloom, so I let it roll for a little, rotated and

got airborne again. This is where things got really scary. I began to

realize that the engine which had served me so well up to this point,

was not able to provide sufficient power to keep me airborne even in

ground effect. The engine was not missing, but it was as though

someone had slowly been pulling the throttle back since I had shoved

it all the way in. We slowly settled back down to the runway and I

did not know how far I had to go to that drainage canal. I estimate

the canal to be about five feet deep and 15 feet across. I had a choice

of lowering the nose and trying to stop using the brake handle across

the cockpit on [my son's] side hoping I would not nose over into the

canal, or trying one last time to coax the plane into the air and jump

the canal and land in a soybean field. I decided to jump. This time

I got higher than before, which was bad, because I did not have as

much ground effect to keep me in the air. My left wing dropped,

and I realized I was stalling. I lowered the nose to gain control and

picked the left wing almost up to level before we came down hard

just prior to the drainage canal. The impact was in a left crab, slight

left wing down slightly nose up, I think. ... I looked down and

noticed fire immediately coming up from the rudder pedals around

my feet. After a little trouble extricating ourselves from seat and

shoulder harnesses, we were able to get out and away from the plane

which was soon engulfed in flames.

Federal Aviation Administration inspectors examined the wreckage. No pre-impact anomalies were detected during the examination.

The pilot further stated:

If life was like a VCR player and you could rewind and do things over,

this is what I would do different. I would brief an abort. I would brief

how to decide to abort, and the responsibilities of each crew member

during an abort.

NTSB Probable Cause

The loss of engine power during takeoff for undetermined reasons, the pilot not performing an aborted takeoff at the initial recognition of a loss of engine performance, and the stall/mush the pilot encountered after takeoff.