Incident
During a night VFR cross-country flight, the pilot encountered a partial loss of engine power while cruising. The cause of the power reduction was later identified as a broken exhaust valve, which had fragmented into several pieces upon examination.
Emergency Landing
In response to the power loss, the pilot initiated a spiral descent toward an airport to perform an emergency landing. However, he reported becoming disoriented during the maneuver. As a result, he attempted to land downwind, which caused him to overshoot the runway. Unable to reach the intended landing area, the pilot executed an off-airport forced landing on a rural road approximately 1.5 miles beyond the airport.
Post-Accident Examination
During the landing rollout on the road, the aircraft struck a concrete culvert abutment and subsequently collided with trees. An examination of the engine revealed that an exhaust valve had broken into multiple pieces. No other causal factors were identified in the source material.