Preliminary Investigation of a Piper PA-28-160 Emergency Landing in Chile

Incident Overview and Location On December 21, 2020, at 18:50 local time, a Piper Aircraft Inc. PA-28-160 Cherokee made an emergency landing in an agricultural property located two kilometers north of Curacaví Aerodrome (SCCV) in Chile's Metropolitan Region. The incident occurred during a flight training operation involving a flight instructor and a student pilot. ## Flight Details and Emergency Response The aircraft departed from Curacaví Aerodrome at 18:35 local time for a local training flight. While flying at an altitude of 1,900 feet, the engine began to lose power. The flight instructor executed an emergency landing in a farm field, where the aircraft traveled 80 meters before coming to a complete stop. Both the instructor and the student pilot were uninjured, and the aircraft sustained no structural damage. ## Aircraft and Maintenance Information The 1961 Piper PA-28-160 Cherokee, serial number 28-140, had 5,305.91 service hours at the time of the incident. The aircraft was powered by a Lycoming O-320-B2B engine and equipped with a Sensenich 74DM6-0-60 propeller. The last 100-hour or annual inspection was completed on September 14, 2020, at 5,279.32 hours, with satisfactory results. ## Mechanical Findings Post-incident inspection revealed a fractured piston head in cylinder number 3 with material loss and evidence of high-temperature exposure. The cylinder exhibited no compression, and the exhaust muffler showed internal deformations attributed to high exhaust gas temperatures. Fuel samples tested as AVGAS 100LL compliant with ASTM D 910 standards, and no foreign particles were found in the oil filter.