Flight Events
Following the exit of parachutists, the airplane was descending through 9,000 feet mean sea level when the engine experienced a partial loss of power. The pilot confirmed that the carburetor heat was engaged, the cowl flaps were closed, the fuel selector was set to "Both," and the mixture was in the rich position. She continued the descent and entered a left-hand traffic pattern for the intended runway. The pilot initially based her pattern distance on the perceived available engine power.
While turning from the base leg to the final approach, the engine lost all power. Concluding that a glide to the runway was unlikely, the pilot aimed for a forced landing in the parachute drop zone. However, she was too high for that field and subsequently executed a forced landing in a cornfield.
Post-Accident Examination
After the accident, a Federal Aviation Administration inspector conducted a successful engine run using fuel from both tanks. Examination of the wreckage showed that the fuel tanks remained intact. The left fuel tank held approximately 2 gallons of fuel, and the right tank contained about 6.75 gallons.
Fuel Records and Manual Information
Fueling records indicated that the airplane had been filled to capacity 3.9 hours prior to the accident, as measured by the tachometer. During that period, the pilot added 4.5 gallons to the right fuel tank. According to the airplane owner's manual, the engine consumed roughly 14 gallons of fuel per hour, and 10 gallons of fuel were considered unusable during normal flight operations.