Flight History
On 15 October 2021 at 20:30 UTC, a Piper PA-22-150, registration LV-FIU, departed from Florencio Varela aerodrome in Buenos Aires province for an aerial advertising flight. The pilot, a commercial pilot with approximately 426 total flight hours, had logged 222 hours as of 22 August 2019 and had adapted to the PA-22 on 8 March 2020 with about 240 hours.
Emergency Landing
After about 40 minutes of flight in visual meteorological conditions, the pilot noted a reduction in engine RPM. He increased power and temporarily restored RPM, but then the engine lost power completely. Deciding to return to the departure airport, the pilot instead opted for an emergency landing when the engine failed again. He landed on the sports fields of Club Deportivo Pucará in Burzaco, which offered a relatively obstacle-free area with consecutive hockey, football, and rugby pitches. During the landing roll, the aircraft struck small wooden and metal bleachers and a wire fence on a concrete step, causing collapse of the nose landing gear and damage to the right strut, wings, and forward fuselage. The pilot exited the aircraft uninjured.
Investigation Findings
Investigators from the Junta de Seguridad en el Transporte (JST) arrived at the scene and verified the damage. Flight controls and engine controls were found to function correctly. Residual fuel was observed in the aircraft, but the exact quantity at the time of the accident could not be determined due to fluid loss. Fuel samples were taken from the left tank and the engine filter and sent to the Laboratorio de Ensayos de Materiales of the Argentine Air Force for analysis.
Fuel Analysis
The laboratory results indicated that the samples matched the characteristic curve of automotive fuel grade 3. The presence of this fuel type in the aircraft was noted.