Aircraft Yaws Left After Takeoff and Impacts Ground (N100FG)

Incident Sequence

The airplane was observed to yaw to the left immediately after becoming airborne. It climbed no more than 75 feet above ground level while flying southbound with the landing gear extended. Several witnesses reported hearing a sputtering or surging sound from the left engine. After clearing the roof of a hangar by only 25 feet while in a nose-up attitude, the airplane banked to the right, then rolled to the left, pitched down, and impacted the ground nearly vertical. It came to rest with the empennage elevated approximately 20 degrees past vertical.

Examination Findings

No preimpact failure or malfunction was noted with the flight controls. Both fuel selectors were found set to the auxiliary tank position, contrary to a placard adjacent to both fuel selectors. The left auxiliary fuel tank contained approximately 1/4 gallon of 100LL uncontaminated fuel, and the right auxiliary fuel tank contained approximately 9.0 gallons of uncontaminated 100LL fuel. The left engine was placed in a test stand and found to operate normally. Examination of the right engine revealed no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction. Fuel injection components of the right engine were bench tested or examined with no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction.