Accident Overview
The accident involved a flight instructor and a student pilot during a training flight. The instructor had previously accompanied the student on a solo flight earlier that day.
Flight History
According to the flight instructor, the student departed with 20 gallons of fuel aboard the airplane. The student returned about 1 hour later. The instructor then flew with the student to check her progress. During this flight, the instructor moved the fuel selector to the 'OFF' position to simulate an engine failure. The student performed the emergency engine starting procedures, and the fuel selector was returned to the 'ON' position. The instructor stated that his subsequent attempts to restart the engine were unsuccessful.
Forced Landing and Aftermath
The instructor made a forced landing in the best field available, which was bottom land that had been disked (or plowed). During the landing, the airplane nosed over and was extensively damaged. The accident was reported about 2 months after it occurred. The airplane was not available for examination, and no reason was found to explain why an in-flight restart of the engine was not attained.