N7RG

On August 19, 1995, at 1032 hours mountain standard time, a Gettig Pitts Special S1C, collided with a road sign after executing an emergency landing about 9 miles south of Goodyear Airport, Goodyear, Arizona. The emergency landing was precipitated by a total loss of engine power. The pilot was conducting a local visual flight rules aerobatic flight. The airplane, registered to and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. The pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at Goodyear Airport at 1000 hours.

The pilot reported in a telephone interview conducted on August 19, 1995, that he was practicing aerobatic maneuvers. After completing a maneuver, while at level flight, the propeller "stopped."

The pilot selected a nearby road and successfully landed on the road. During the landing roll-out, the road began to curve to the left. The pilot was unable to see over the airplane nose (he was looking to the left) and the right wing struck a road sign.

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness inspector from the Scottsdale [Arizona] Flight Standards District Office examined the engine. The inspector reported that the pilot installed an electronic fuel injection system. He mounted the drive unit on the engine accessory case.

After the pilot installed the system, he sent the engine for repairs that included resurfacing the crankcase halves. The pilot reinstalled the electronic fuel injection system, but he did not check the system drive shaft for proper alignment. The inspector said that the crankcase resurfacing caused a misalignment of the drive shaft.

The postaccident examination of the wreckage revealed that the fuel injection system drive shaft failed.