Baron 55/Cochise
Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 80; Flight Crew Total 6500; Flight Crew Type 500
Other / Unknown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; Flight Crew Inflight Shutdown; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Human Factors; Procedure
With three passengers on board I departed the Airport with full fuel tanks. At about 100 AGL I suffered a complete loss of engine power on engine #1 (critical). My airspeed was about 5 MPH above Vyse. I lowered the pitch slightly and maintained Vyse. I first verified all engine levers were all the way forward then immediately verified both engines were feeding off the main tanks and switched both boost pumps to high. Engine #1 gave a brief lurch like it was trying to restart but then just stayed dead. I slowly pulled the prop lever for #1 back to verify I was feathering the proper engine. I pulled it back to the feather stop then pulled the #1 mixture lever to idle cut off. I then realized the prop was still windmilling; so I pulled the prop lever all the way into the feather detent and the prop feathered. After reporting the problem to the Tower I was immediately cleared to land. I was able to easily make it around the pattern and land.An inspection of the engine revealed that a bolt that holds the mixture cable to the rear of the engine had backed out causing the cable to fall and pull the mixture to idle cut off even though both mixture levers appeared to be full forward. The aircraft was four hours out of annual inspection and new mixture cables had been installed. The IA believes the bolt was not properly tightened during the installation.
BE-55 pilot reports a left engine failure at 100 FT after takeoff. The engine is feathered and the flight returns to the departure airport. Post flight inspection reveals that a bolt that holds the mixture control to the rear of the engine had come loose causing the mixture to go to idle cut off. Maintenance had recently been performed on this component.