Accident Details
On July 9, 2017, about 1619 central daylight time, a Cirrus SR22, registration N929DE, impacted trees during a forced landing after a loss of engine power near Corydon, Iowa. The private pilot and one passenger sustained serious injuries. The airplane, registered to Lakeview Aviation LLC and operated by a private individual under 14 CFR Part 91, sustained substantial damage. The flight departed Corydon Airport (0E9) at approximately 1614, destined for Centerville Municipal Airport (TVK) in Centerville, Iowa.
The pilot completed an engine run-up before takeoff with no issues noted. Shortly after takeoff, while turning toward TVK, the engine sputtered and lost power. The pilot attempted an engine restart by activating the boost pump, switching fuel tanks, checking the mixture lever, and cycling the magneto switch, but the engine did not restart. Due to low altitude, the pilot did not deploy the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System and executed a forced landing into a wooded area. The pilot reported the airplane had 40 gallons of fuel at takeoff.
Witness and Passenger Accounts
The passenger, interviewed by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector after the accident, stated that the pilot planned to refuel at TVK because no fuel was available at 0E9. During the turn toward TVK, she heard and felt the engine lose power. She reported that the pilot attempted restart procedures but nothing worked. The passenger noted that the airplane typically sounded like a hot rod car, but after takeoff it sounded like it kept “skipping a beat.”
Local authorities and witnesses reported that the airplane departed 0E9 after a local fly-in event. Witnesses described the engine as “pinging or popping” during the takeoff roll. The airplane departed from the grass runway and was lost from sight. One witness, concerned by the airplane’s behavior during takeoff, subsequently departed in his own airplane to search for it.
Wreckage and Examination
The airplane came to rest upright, with the right wing low, lodged in trees about 10 feet above the ground. Both wings and the forward fuselage structure were fragmented. The instrument panel, firewall, and engine were displaced downward toward the terrain. The three-bladed propeller assembly separated from the engine; the engine crankshaft propeller flange remained attached to the propeller hub, and the crankshaft was fractured near the flange.
A Garmin Aera 796 GPS device recovered from the accident site was undamaged. Data extraction showed one track log session containing 9,999 data points from multiple events between April 20 and July 9, 2017. The accident flight was recorded from 16:14:55 to 16:19:34.
An Avidyne Multifunction Display Compact Flash Card was also recovered but could not be read in an NTSB surrogate unit. Avidyne reported that the MFD unit was not configured to record, and no non-volatile memory data was available.
On October 24, 2017, the engine was examined and disassembled under NTSB supervision at Continental Motors Inc. in Mobile, Alabama. Due to a bent crankshaft, the engine could not be functionally tested. Disassembly and functional testing of components revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The reason for the loss of engine power could not be determined.