Accident Details
On September 20, 2015, about 2015 Alaska daylight time, a Champion 7ECA airplane, registration N9132L, suffered a total loss of engine power during the initial climb after takeoff from Talkeetna Airport (TKA), Talkeetna, Alaska. The pilot executed a forced landing in trees beyond the departure end of the runway. The airline transport pilot sustained serious injuries, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight was operated under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight.
Pilot Report
According to an interview with the National Transportation Safety Board on September 30, the pilot was conducting stop-and-go and touch-and-go landings to build tailwheel time. He reported departing between 1400 and 1500. After takeoff from a stop-and-go landing, he experienced a sudden engine failure. He attempted unsuccessfully to troubleshoot the loss of power. During the forced landing, the airplane's wings struck trees and the fuselage impacted terrain. The pilot stated that at the time of the loss of engine power, he had one hour of fuel remaining, the left wing fuel gauge was obscured by headliner material and not visible, and the right fuel gauge indicated a quarter full. He had topped off both fuel tanks before the flight. The pilot also reported that the engine ran rough a few times during the flight and once dropped a couple of hundred revolutions per minute.
The owner/operator reported that during rental operations, customers were informed to plan on a 7-gallon-per-hour fuel burn, and the airplane has a 26-gallon fuel capacity. The outbound Hobbs meter time was 579.6 hours; the meter was damaged in the accident. The outbound tachometer time was 2087.94, and the tachometer time at the accident was 2091.25. The renter was estimated to have operated the airplane for just over 4 hours.
Wreckage Information
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aviation safety inspector who responded reported that no usable fuel was found in the fuel tanks and no fuel was found on the ground at the accident site. He stated that apparent fuel starvation caused the engine to quit. He also reported that the airplane's low altitude and an uncoordinated left turn put the airplane into a spin at about 100 feet, with a steep left-wing-low attitude. The airplane came to rest at a 70-degree nose-down attitude in a grove of small trees, about 1000 feet north and 200 feet west of the extended centerline of the departure end of runway 36. Photographs showed substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage.
Communications
An FAA flight service station is located at the accident airport. A review of the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) recording revealed that from 1532 to 1949, the pilot was performing touch-and-go landings.
Fuel System Information
The Champion Citabria Owner's Manual (1969) describes the fuel gauge system for the 7ECA model. It notes that the fuel quantity is read from a mechanical float-type gauge on the right side of the cabin over the door, indicating correctly only in level flight. Because the fuel tanks are interconnected, both tanks contain the same amount of fuel except immediately after adding fuel to one side, so only one gauge is necessary. A separate gauge for the left wing tank is optional.
The requirements of 14 CFR Part 23.1337 state that each fuel quantity indicator must be calibrated to read zero during level flight when the remaining fuel equals the unusable fuel supply determined under 14 CFR 23.959.