Accident Details
On October 31, 2021, about 1150 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172K airplane, N1082V, was substantially damaged during an accident near Rexburg, Idaho. The student pilot was not injured. The flight was conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as an instructional flight.
Pilot Report
The student pilot stated the flight was intended to fulfill the solo cross-country requirements for his private pilot certificate. While on final approach at about 400 ft above ground level, he added throttle to correct a low approach angle, and the engine “just died.” He cycled the ignition switch twice at full throttle but did not activate the electric fuel pump. The propeller continued to rotate after power loss. Realizing he had lost about half his altitude while attempting to restart, he declared an emergency and chose to land on a street. During the landing roll, the right wing struck a street light pole, and the landing gear struck a curb, causing substantial damage to the wing and fuselage undercarriage.
The pilot reported that during summer 2021, the engine had lost power “about 8 times,” always after warm-up. Maintenance was performed after one such event, but another loss occurred after that maintenance. He noted that the accident flight was the only in-flight loss of engine power.
Maintenance History
A review of the engine maintenance logbook revealed an entry dated October 8, 2021, at 1,629 engine hours, which stated: “Engine dies on rollout after landing with the throttle all the way to idle…. Found engine to be excessively rich and the low side fuel pressure was 5.5 PSI. Ran engine, multiple times and set all settings within specs. Low un-metered fuel set to 7.2 psi. Idle set to 750RPM with 40 RPM rise on shutoff, and high side metered set to 16.2 PSI. All work IAW Continental Motors SID97-3G.” The airplane was signed off as airworthy and approved for return to service.
Postaccident Examination
A mechanic performed a postaccident engine run at a hangar at Rexburg-Madison County Airport (RXE) without FAA or NTSB presence. The engine started and ran smoothly for about 2 minutes; magneto and mixture checks were “normal.” The mechanic did not touch the fuel selector or other components. About 30 gallons of fuel was removed from the wings during recovery.
The NTSB examination found the fuel selector lever jammed between the “both” and right tank positions, unable to rotate with moderate force. The floor section underneath the lever was deformed upward. An NTSB engine run was not conducted due to propeller damage and the prior mechanic-run, which precluded a thorough engine examination.