Incident Overview
On November 5, 2022, at approximately 0821 mountain daylight time, a Cessna R172E, registration N6051U, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing near Aguilar, Colorado. The private pilot, who was the sole occupant, reported no injuries. The flight was conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight.
Pilot Report
According to the pilot, he had climbed the airplane from 9,000 feet mean sea level (msl) to 10,000 feet msl intended to overfly Raton Pass and Fischer Peak, Colorado. During the climb, he encountered wind shear and high turbulence. Simultaneously, he felt a pop or shudder, and the aircraft began to shake. Oil started covering the windshield. The pilot executed a forced landing to a field; during the landing, the airplane struck a fence. Post-impact examination revealed substantial damage to both wings.
Postaccident Examination
A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the engine and found that the No. 2 cylinder head was cracked. The cylinder head and barrel assembly, which had accumulated 358.9 hours since new, had been manufactured by Engine Components International. The assembly was subject to airworthiness directive (AD) 2009-26-12, which mandates initial and repetitive visual inspections and compression tests to detect cracks at the head-to-barrel interface. The last cylinder compression check was performed in July 2022, recording a pressure of 70 psi. No other mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal airplane operation were identified.