Socata TB9

Full Narrative

On September 17, 2019, about 1800 eastern daylight time, a Socata Tampico TB9C, N2824R, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Fort Meade, Maryland. The flight instructor was not injured and the student pilot received minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.

According to the instructor, the purpose of the flight was to conduct practice takeoffs and landings. After a preflight inspection and normal engine run-up, they took off, remaining in the airport traffic pattern. While on the downwind leg, the student completed the before-landing checklist. The flight instructor noted that the engine rpm was low and applied additional power; however, engine power continued to decay. The instructor took the controls from the student and turned base toward runway 10. He switched fuel tanks and turned off the carburetor heat in an attempt to regain engine power, which had no effect. The airplane descended into the trees under partial power and came to rest in the treetops about 75 ft above the ground, resulting in substantial damage to both wings.

The engine sparkplugs were removed; the top electrodes were gray in color and exhibited normal wear signatures. The bottom plugs were darker than the top sparkplugs and were oil-soaked. The wires to the Nos. 1 and 3 cylinder top spark plugs were broken, but produced spark when the engine was manually rotated. All other sparkplug wires produced spark when the engine was rotated. Valve train continuity was established, and compression was observed on all cylinders during engine rotation. An undetermined amount of oil was observed in the sump. The carburetor was clear of debris. The intake scat tubing was found crushed on the airframe side. The airframe scat tubing fiberglass connection side was also found crushed. Examination of the interior of the scat tubing found the inner layer of the tubing collapsed. An examination of the engine did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.