What happened
Shortly after takeoff, at approximately 400 feet AGL, the engine lost power. The pilot attempted to restart the engine by switching on the electric fuel boost pump, but these efforts were unsuccessful. Consequently, a forced landing was executed into a swampy, wooded area.
At the time of the accident, the aircraft had accumulated more than 2225 hours of total flight time. This included only four hours of flight time since an annual inspection had been completed four days earlier. During that recent inspection, the engine had been replaced with a zero-time factory rebuilt engine. Additionally, the left main fuel tank, the electric fuel boost pump, and the fuel collector drain were all replaced.
The investigation
During the postaccident investigation, the FAA conducted an engine test run. The results indicated that the engine-driven fuel pump operated satisfactorily. Furthermore, when full power was applied and the electric fuel boost pump was activated, the engine continued to operate without issue.