Incident Overview
On August 31, 2018, at approximately 1345 eastern daylight time, a Cubcrafters CC11-160 airplane, registration N71BN, sustained substantial damage to its left-wing strut after nosing over during a forced landing in a soybean field. The forced landing followed a complete loss of engine power while the airplane was descending to land at Fairfield County Airport (LHQ) near Lancaster, Ohio. The pilot, who was the sole occupant and operator, reported no injuries.
Flight Details
The flight originated from The Duchy Airport (5NC5) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, at about 1045, and was destined for LHQ. The pilot was operating under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and the flight was not operated on a flight plan.
Pilot Report
According to the pilot, while descending from cruise flight to traffic pattern altitude, the engine began to run rough. He applied carburetor heat, which made the roughness significantly worse, so he turned it off. Immediately after, the engine lost all power. At that time, the airplane was at an altitude of about 2,000 feet mean sea level (1,200 feet above ground level). The pilot executed an off-airport landing to a farm field. During the landing roll, the airplane nosed over in waist-high vegetation. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane and noted that he had used carburetor heat earlier in the descent as recommended by the operator.
Weather Conditions
Weather observations at LHQ around the time of the accident recorded a temperature of 28°C and a dew point of 21°C. According to a carburetor icing probability chart, these conditions fell within the range susceptible to serious icing during descent power settings.