Accident Description
The pilot of a skydiver-dropping aircraft was descending from a 12,000-foot drop altitude when the airplane approached a landing on a 3-mile base leg. At the end of the descent, the engine lost power. The pilot checked the fuel selector, which was in the "both" tanks position, the mixture control in the "rich" position, and the individual magnetos; none of these actions restored power. As the aircraft was at low altitude, the pilot diverted attention to performing an off-airport landing.
Postaccident Examination
After the accident, the operator examined the aircraft and found approximately 10 gallons of fuel in the left tank and 5 gallons in the right tank. The operator's mechanics inspected the aircraft and engine but did not discover any mechanical anomaly. The cylinder combustion chambers and the electrodes of the engine's upper spark plugs exhibited a whitish appearance.
Pilot Training and Operations
The operator reported that the pilot had been employed for two weeks and had received about 10 hours of flight training as a jump-plane pilot. The accident flight was the pilot's fourth or fifth unsupervised flight and required that jumpers be dropped from 12,000 feet mean sea level. In such high-drop operations, the pilot was instructed to descend with the mixture leaned to reduce spark plug fouling. The operator arrived at the accident scene shortly after police and noted that no one had tampered with the aircraft. He found the mixture control "not even half way in."