Buckman Bucks Special

Full Narrative

On April 9, 2020, about 1130 Pacific daylight time, a Buckman Bucks Special airplane, N9065F, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Prescott, Washington. The flight instructor and pilot were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.

According to the pilot, during takeoff from a planted field, shortly after becoming airborne, the tailwheel-equipped airplane did not climb, and the pilot initiated a left turn to avoid trees and powerlines at the end of the strip. The left wing tip impacted the ground during the turn and the airplane landed hard and nosed over, resulting in substantial damage to the wings and vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported a lack of performance that would not allow the airplane to gain altitude.

A postaccident examination of the engine revealed several anomalies. A portion of a fuel line was found looped around an engine mount, partially collapsing the line due to the sharp bend. A soft fuel pump line was attached to the impulse side of the fuel pump. The induction air filter was removed, and the pleats displayed contamination, were gray in color, and were not coated in the protective filter oil. The carburetor venting tubing was modified and ran down the engine mount toward the bottom of the engine firewall. The beginning of the exhaust expansion chamber had a sharp 90° bend. The engine was test run was for several minutes at different power settings. The engine operated normally, and no anomalies were observed. It is unknown if the engine produced the specified 65 horsepower, as it was not test run on an engine dynamometer or test flown on an airplane. The engine did not have a carburetor heat system.

Review of the engine maintenance logbook revealed that the engine was most recently inspected on August 5, 2019, about 17 hours of operation before the accident. On February 2, 2020, new carburetor sockets were installed. On March 21, 2020, about 3 hours of operation before the accident, floats and new jets were installed on the carburetors.

Review of the meteorological conditions that existed around the time of the accident and the carburetor icing chart from FAA Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin CE-09-35 “Carburetor Icing Prevention” indicated a potential for serious icing at cruise power at the temperature and dew point that existed around the time of the accident.