Piper PA36 accident near El Campo, Texas, May 28, 2017

The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record

The commercial pilot was conducting an agricultural application flight when the airplane experienced a loss of engine power. The airplane subsequently impacted an adjacent field in a nose-low, left-wing-low attitude. Due to his injuries, the pilot did not recall the details of the accident flight, loss of engine power, or impact sequence. The location of the wreckage, the debris field, and the damage to the airplane are consistent with the airplane being in a turn at the time of the accident. An examination of the engine revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. An examination of the fuel system revealed that the internal foam baffles in both fuel tanks were discolored and deteriorated, and they disintegrated into very fine particles when touched. According to the owner/operator, during routine maintenance 5 days before the accident, a mechanic found blue foam, which he identified as coming from the foam baffles, in the fuel filter at the engine. Subsequent periodic inspections of the screen revealed no contaminants. The postaccident examination of three fuel injector nozzles revealed that they were plugged with an unknown substance. In addition, evidence of water was found in the fuel flow divider. It is likely that, given the condition of the foam baffles and the owner's previous identification of foam in the fuel system, that the particles found in the fuel injector nozzles were from the foam baffles. This contamination, in combination with the water found in the fuel flow divider, likely resulted in the loss of engine power.

The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.