2013 Piper PA-28-181 forced landing in Sopó, Colombia (HK2078)

Incident Overview and Location On 15 September 2013, at 14:00 local time, a Piper PA-28-181 with registration HK 2078G made a forced landing in an unprepared field in the municipality of Sopó, Cundinamarca, Colombia. The aircraft was located at Finca las Margaritas, Lote Alpina, with geographic coordinates 4°15'34.94 N, 73°56'42.72 W. The operation was a training flight, and the incident occurred in visual meteorological conditions. ## Operation and Sequence of Events The aircraft, owned by Israel Corporation S.A.S and operated by Escuela de Aviación de los Andes S.A (Aeroandes S.A), was scheduled for two hours of instrument training over Guaymaral (GYM) training areas No. 1 and No. 3. A pilot instructor and a pilot student were on board. After a preflight 360 inspection, the aircraft departed from GYM Flaminio Suarez Camacho (SKGY) and proceeded to training area No. 3. After approximately 50 minutes, the crew informed the SKGY control tower of a change to training area No. 1. While conducting training maneuvers at approximately 10,200 feet, the aircraft experienced a strong and uncontrollable vibration, loss of power, and the subsequent opening of the oil cap and expulsion of the dipstick. The crew decided to make an emergency forced landing in a visible unprepared field. During the emergency maneuver, the aircraft suffered significant damage to the nose gear, the engine separated from the mount, and a dent occurred at the tip of the right wing. The aircraft finally came to rest in a potato crop field. ## Occupants and Injuries The two occupants, the pilot instructor and the pilot student, abandoned the aircraft by their own means and were uninjured. No fire occurred. ## Aircraft and Maintenance Information The Piper PA-28-181, serial number 287890465, was manufactured in 1978 and powered by a Lycoming O-360-4A4 engine with a Sensenich 76EM8S5-0-62 propeller. At the time of the incident, the aircraft had 11,433:16 total flight hours and 160:58 hours since overhaul. The last annual inspection was on 31 July 2013, and the last 50-hour service was recorded on 12 September 2013. Maintenance was performed by authorized repair stations, including Aeroandes S.A and Aviones de Colombia Ltda for propeller overhaul services. ## Damage The aircraft sustained separation of the engine from the mount, loss of the lower cowling, fracture of the nose gear, a dent at the leading edge of the right wing tip, one propeller blade bent, and the other blade fractured at the tip. The impact also caused damage to the potato crop during the impact trajectory.