N61246

On August 20, 2000, at 0923 Eastern Daylight Time, a homebuilt Titan Tornado, N61246, was substantially damaged during a forced landing, after takeoff from Harrison Field, Libertytown, Maryland. The certificated commercial pilot was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed for the personal flight, conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

According to the pilot, he flew the airplane a day earlier, in a "bomb drop" contest. The goal of the contest was to drop a small bag of flour on a target. During the bomb drop, an engine failure occurred, which resulted in a forced landing to a field.

The airplane was trucked back to the originating airfield, and the pilot spent the rest of the afternoon trying to troubleshoot the engine failure. He removed the fuel filter, and had "moderate difficulty blowing through it." He thought that a fuel additive, poured into the fuel tanks prior to the flight, could have contributed to the filter blockage. He replaced the filter, pulled and checked the spark plugs, and hand-turned the engine numerous times, "for anything out of the ordinary."

On the day of the accident, the pilot refueled the airplane, and decided to conduct a test flight prior to flying home to Virginia. Just after takeoff, the engine failed again. The pilot immediately lowered the nose of the airplane to gain airspeed. He then looked for a field to land in, but could only see trees. The last thing he remembered about the flight, was making a turn for about 160 degrees. He then remembered waking up while several people were extracting him from the airplane.

The airplane had been powered by a 2-cycle, 2-cylinder Rotax 618 engine.

On November 28, 2000, two Safety Board investigators and a representative from the engine manufacturer traveled to the pilot's home in Virginia, where the airplane had been moved, and performed an engine examination.

According to a factual report provided by the engine manufacturer's representative,

- The Rotax 618 engine had no external damage, with the exception of some bent exhaust components, and the partial breakage of the RAVE, (Rotax Adjustable Variable exhaust) covers.

- The fuel system had been augmented with an electric boost pump. There were no ignition system discrepancies noted, and both throttle cables were functional. Spark plug coloration was consistent with a slightly rich mixture, and spark plug gap was properly set. The carburetors were fitted with a dual K&N air filter. The filter element was light gray, consistent with a lack of filter oil.

- The cylinders were removed, and the crankshaft was inspected via the crankcase cylinder rod openings. The engine was rotated slowly, and no binding or corrosion was noted. The crankshaft appeared extremely dry in the area of the crankshaft rod bearings and forgings.

- Both the magneto (MAG) and power-take-off (PTO) pistons were seized, consistent with a "cold seizure", from a thermal imbalance. A thermal imbalance would generally result when the cylinder was relatively cold, while the piston was relatively hot.

- Both cylinders exhibited contamination from the seizure, with aluminum transfer from the pistons on the cast iron liners of the cylinders. Examination with a 10-power magnifier revealed signs of overlapping seizure damage, consistent with another seizure, prior to the accident flight.