N929DECirrus Design SR22 · 2002

On July 9, 2017, about 1619 central daylight time, a Cirrus SR22 airplane, N929DE, impacted trees during a forced landing following a loss of engine power near Corydon, Iowa. The private pilot and passenger sustained serious injuries, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The airplane was registered to Lakeview Aviation LLC and operated by a private individual under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a flight plan was not filed. The flight departed the Corydon Airport (0E9) about 1614 and was destined for the Centerville Municipal Airport (TVK), Centerville, Iowa.

Prior to takeoff, the pilot completed an engine run-up with no problems noted. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot turned the airplane toward TVK when the "engine started sputtering and died." The pilot attempted an engine restart by turning on the boost pump, switching fuel tanks, checking the mixture lever, and cycling the magneto switch; however, the engine restart was unsuccessful. Due to the low altitude at the time of the loss of engine power, the pilot did not deploy the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System and performed a forced landing to a wooded area. The pilot reported the airplane contained 40 gallons of fuel at the time of takeoff.

According to the passenger, who was interviewed by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector after the accident, the pilot planned to go to TVK for fuel since there was no fuel at 0E9. During the turn toward TVK, she heard and felt the engine lose power. She stated the pilot attempted to restart the engine, but nothing he was doing was working. The passenger reported that the airplane usually sounds like a hot rod car, but after takeoff, it sounded like it kept skipping a beat.

According to local authorities and witnesses, the airplane departed 0E9 after a local fly-in event. Witnesses described the engine as "pinging or popping" during the takeoff roll. The airplane departed the grass runway and witnesses lost sight of the airplane. One witness became concerned based on his observation of the airplane during the takeoff about whether the airplane had crashed. The witness then departed in his airplane to search for the accident airplane. The airplane was located by search personnel about 1/2 miles east of 0E9.

The airplane came to rest upright and right-wing low in the trees about 10 ft above the ground. Both wings and the forward fuselage structure were fragmented. The instrument panel, firewall, and engine were displaced down toward the terrain. The three-bladed propeller assembly was separated from the engine. The engine crankshaft propeller flange remained attached to the propeller hub, and the engine crankshaft was fractured near the flange.

A Garmin Aera 796 GPS device was recovered from the accident site and sent to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for examination and data extraction. The device was undamaged and data was downloaded normally using the manufacturer's software. The data extracted included one track log session which consisted of 9,999 data points from multiple events ranging from April 20, 2017, to July 9, 2017. The accident flight was recorded which started at 16:14:55 and ended at 16:19:34.

An Avidyne Multifunction Display (MFD) Compact Flash Card was recovered from the cockpit MFD and sent to the NTSB Vehicle Recorder Laboratory for examination and data extraction. An examination revealed the compact flash card was undamaged. The card would not read in an NTSB surrogate unit, and a binary copy was sent to Avidyne for further examination. According to Avidyne, the MFD unit was not configured to record, and no non-volatile memory data was available.

On October 24, 2017, at Continental Motors Inc., Mobile, Alabama, the engine was examined and disassembled under the supervision of the NTSB investigator-in-charge. Due to a bent engine crankshaft, the engine could not be functionally tested. Disassembly of the engine and functional testing of the engine components revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. A reason for the loss of engine power could not be determined.