What happened
On September 1, 2018, at approximately 1715 central daylight time, a Diamond DA40, registration N388MA, underwent a forced landing in a field near Mount Pleasant, Tennessee. The flight, which departed Maury County Airport (MRC) at 1615, was being conducted under visual meteorological conditions with 10 miles of visibility and winds of 110 degrees at 07 knots.
While flying the downwind leg of the airport traffic pattern for runway 6, the pilot reduced engine power in preparation for landing. At that moment, the engine suffered a total loss of power. The pilot attempted to regain power by advancing the throttle and subsequently attempted an engine restart, but both efforts were unsuccessful. Realizing the aircraft could not glide to the runway, the pilot performed a forced landing in a field approximately 1 mile prior to the runway 6 threshold. The pilot sustained one minor injury.
The investigation
An FAA inspector examined the wreckage and found that the nose landing gear and left main landing gear had collapsed, and the empennage had separated from the airframe. While the wings sustained damage, the fuel tanks remained intact. The inspector recovered approximately 4 gallons of fuel from the left tank and between 10 and 11 gallons from the right tank; the fuel was 100-low-lead and showed no signs of contamination. The fuel selector was found in the left tank position.
Mechanical examination of the Lycoming IO-360-M1A engine revealed that the crankshaft, camshaft, and valve train were continuous. Although the engine had been stationary for 10 months and did not show thumb compression on three of the four cylinders, a borescope examination showed no anomalies. The mechanical fuel pump, magnetos, fuel servo, and fuel lines all functioned or appeared normal, and the oil filter showed no metallic debris. While the manufacturer noted that fuel unporting can occur with 4 to 6 gallons remaining, investigators determined this was unlikely given the aircraft's attitude during the event.