Incident Overview
During cruise flight at 3,500 feet, the aircraft experienced a violent yaw to the left, followed by an engine shutdown. The pilot attempted an inflight engine restart but was unsuccessful. A forced landing was made in a pasture with the landing gear retracted due to suspected wet ground conditions. During the ground roll, the aircraft struck a fence row, resulting in substantial damage.
Event Sequence
The aircraft was in cruise flight at 3,500 feet when it yawed violently to the left. Immediately thereafter, the engine shut down. The pilot attempted to restart the engine in flight but the attempt did not succeed. The pilot then performed a forced landing in a pasture. The landing gear was kept up because the pilot suspected that the ground was wet. While rolling on the ground, the aircraft collided with a fence row, causing substantial damage.
Investigation Findings
Examination revealed that the violent yaw and engine shutdown were caused by tappet face failures. The specific failure mode of the tappet faces could not be determined during examination.