N3119T

On July 14, 2005, about 1330 Pacific daylight time, a Beech A36, N3119T, sustained substantial damage when the landing gear collapsed during a forced landing following a loss of engine power during takeoff initial climb at Sequim Valley Airport, Sequim, Washington. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The airplane was registered to a private individual. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. The flight was originating when the accident occurred and the intended destination was Port Angeles, Washington.

According to the pilot, he completed an instructional flight in the airplane with his student, who owned the airplane. Following this flight, he dropped the student off at Sequim Valley Airport and then departed runway 27. During the takeoff initial climb, "while the gear was in transit the engine lost power as if the mixture was brought back to idle cutoff and then back to rich suddenly." The pilot moved the gear handle to the down position as the airplane contacted the grass to the right of the runway. When the airplane touched down, the landing gear collapsed, and the airplane slid to a stop "a few hundred feet short of the end of the runway." The pilot reported that "power came back to what felt and sounded like full power" just prior to ground contact.

According to the FAA inspector who examined the airplane, there was structural damage to the outboard left wing. Additionally, there was damage to the inboard leading edge of the right wing, there were wrinkles in the skin on the forward bottom of the fuselage, and the propeller blades were bent. The inspector drained fuel from the airplane and found no evidence of water contamination.

On July 26, 2005, a substitute propeller was installed on the airplane. The engine was started using an external power source. According to the FAA inspector who observed the engine run, the engine was operated at approximately 1,000 rpm for about 5 minutes with no discrepancies noted. Power was then gradually increased to full power, and the engine was run at that setting for about 3 minutes. The only discrepancy noted was that the fuel flow gage in the cockpit was indicating about 29 gallons per hour, which was above the red line of 27.5 gallons per hour.