Fuel-flow levels dropped and the engine throttled moments before a two-seater plane made an emergency landing at a Long Beach park last month, seriously injuring a pedestrian and the pilot, according to a preliminary report from federal officials released Wednesday, Nov. 19.
Around 4 p.m. on Oct. 20, an “experimental, amateur-built Rutan Long-EZ,” a homebuilt two-seater plane, landed on a soccer field at Heartwell Park, seriously injuring a pedestrian and the pilot, according to the National Transportation Safety Board report.
The plane had traveled from Compton-Woodley Airport to French Valley Airport in Murrieta as part of a two-airplane flight and took off around 3:30 p.m. to head back to Compton, the report said.
As he flew to Corona, the pilot told investigators the flight and engine were normal until he turned to the west to follow the 91 Freeway and the fuel-flow dropped from seven gallons per hour to five gallons per hour.
With the engine still running, the pilot contacted the lead airplane about the fuel-flow change. Before reaching Fullerton, the fuel-flow dropped again to three gallons per hour, but the engine continued to run normally, the pilot said.
Both planes continued toward Compton, but within seconds the engine throttled. The pilot switched to another fuel tank, turned on the plane’s electric boost bump and enriched the mixture of air to fuel, according to the report.
“The engine surged and decreased to idle, followed by a total loss of engine power,” the report read.
The pilot tried several times to restart the engine and divert to Daughtery Field at Long Beach Airport. He moved the plane to be able to glide and saw the aircraft was descending at about 700 feet per minute, the report said.
When the pilot saw he wouldn’t make it to Long Beach Airport, he prepared for a sudden landing at Heartwell Park but didn’t see anyone in his flight path as he approached, according to the report.
The Long Beach Fire Department removed the pilot from the plane and took him and the pedestrian to a hospital.
The airplane, which had substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage, was recovered for further examination.