Piper PA-38-112 EC-KYX Incident at Totana Aerodrome

Incident Overview and Flight Details On June 6, 2010, a Piper PA-38-112 with registration EC-KYX departed from Almería Airport at 12:00 local time with two occupants on board. The aircraft was en route to San Javier Airport for a private flight. Approximately one hour into the flight, while at 5,000 ft near Totana, the pilot reported a drop in engine revolutions and abnormal engine operation. The engine did not stop, prompting the pilot to land at the Totana ultralight airfield. After a three-hour stop, the pilot restarted the aircraft and attempted to take off from runway 21 with a southeast wind of 10 kt and gusts up to 25 kt. Immediately after rotation, the engine stopped, and the aircraft fell to the ground from a very low altitude. The occupants were uninjured and evacuated the aircraft independently. The aircraft sustained minor damage, including a broken right wheel, a deformed nose gear, and wing leading edge deformations. One propeller blade was undamaged, while the other had a slight backward deformation. The right landing gear leg detached during the ground run and was found 70 m from the final resting position. The nose gear mechanism deformed, tearing a mounting bolt and creating a hole in the engine oil pan, resulting in a complete loss of oil. The left wing had a leading edge deformation near the tip, and the right wing had a similar deformation near the root. The fuel system inspection revealed that the left tank contained approximately 27 liters (7.13 gallons) of fuel, and the right tank contained 14 liters (3.69 gallons). The fuel selector valve was found in the off position, and the pilot could not recall its exact position. The fuel filter was clean, but a connection piece between the right tank outlet and the selector valve inlet was partially obstructed by a 5 mm plastic fragment. The fuel tank capacity is 121 liters (32 gallons), of which 7.5 liters (2 gallons) are unusable. The carburetor and fuel pump were removed for functional testing, and no damage or malfunction was found. The fuel pump was found disconnected, but it could not be determined if it was disconnected during the takeoff or after the accident. No other engine components showed any failure or irregularity. The propeller had a slight backward deformation on one blade. The ground marks indicated that the aircraft touched the ground and lifted off at least four times after rotation. The trajectory was not straight, but partially to the right of the runway, then back onto the runway, and finally along the runway centerline extension. The continuous and shallow marks left by the propeller on the ground confirmed that it was stopped when the first impact occurred, indicating that the engine was stopped before the first impact. The right main wheel detached in the first impact after passing the end of the runway. The absence of drag marks from that point to the final resting position, about 70 m further, indicated that the aircraft traveled the last part of the distance in the air. The final impact occurred when the aircraft had low translational speed and was at a very low altitude, as there were no marks indicating any forward displacement. The right fuel tank contained 14 liters (3.69 gallons), which is more than the unusable fuel of 3.78 liters (1 gallon). It was confirmed that no fuel reached the selector valve or the engine from the right tank, and a small partial obstruction was found in the circuit from the right tank to the selector valve. In contrast, fuel from the left tank reached both the selector valve and the engine. This suggests that the right tank was selected at the time of takeoff. According to these indications, and considering the available information on the wind direction and speed at the time of takeoff, the takeoff would have been with a variable wind from the left side (crosswind situation). When the aircraft reached rotation speed, it lifted off, but probably due to the changing wind conditions, it likely could not maintain altitude and progress normally with the climb. The wind from the left side, which at some moments may have exceeded the maximum demonstrated crosswind component for this aircraft, could have produced a right roll, which would temporarily displace the fuel in the right tank toward the tip. There is no certainty whether the fuel pump was connected or not, but it is likely that it was not. The use of the fuel pump is specifically indicated during takeoff, according to the flight manual, to ensure fuel supply to the engine in that phase. Finally, the particle found in the outlet section of the tank toward the selector valve could have caused a partial obstruction of the flow, which would aggravate the continuous operation of the engine. In all, the engine stopped.