What happened
The aircraft was performing a VFR approach on the downwind leg at 1,100 feet AGL. While abeam the runway numbers, the pilot extended the landing gear. At that moment, a loud bang was heard and a loss of engine power occurred. The pilot advanced the throttle but determined that the engine had lost all power.
In an attempt to manage the forced landing, the pilot trimmed the aircraft for best glide speed; however, the airspeed was not verified during the descent. The pilot noted that the aircraft was descending too rapidly and that additional trim was needed to relieve back pressure, but she chose to manually control the aircraft to avoid a stall. During the approach, the nose wheel of the aircraft struck a cement drainage ditch located at the approach end of the runway.
The investigation
Following the accident, investigators performed a test run of the engine within the airframe. The engine was found to be operating within the manufacturer's specifications.