Accident Sequence
A flight instructor and a student were practicing touch and go landings. During the climb out from the second touch and go, the instructor informed the student that he had a simulated engine failure and reduced the throttle. The student turned toward a field, after which the instructor increased the throttle. However, the aircraft developed an excessive sink rate. The instructor maneuvered to avoid trees, but the aircraft impacted the ground.
The instructor reported that he did not have very much time to set up for the forced landing due to the low altitude and close proximity to trees.
Post-Accident Examination
After the accident, the instructor, who holds an airframe and powerplant certificate, conducted mechanical examinations of the engine. These examinations did not reveal any defects. The throttle and mixture linkages were found intact and revealed no defects. After cleaning mud deposits from the carburetor body—deposits that were impact-related—the engine was operated successfully while still mounted in the airframe. The reported power loss could not be duplicated.
The instructor also noted that two pilots who had flown the aircraft in the past told him they had experienced similar intermittent power loss problems with the aircraft.