20210830015179A

A Piper PA-28 aircraft owned by 2 fly airborne in merritt island, was being flown by a private pilot, no instruction gaining flight time. A passenger, also on board but is not associated with the accident other than providing a witness statement. This office obtained statements from both the PIC, and passenger and shows that the aircraft took flight around 0745, from the merritt island airport (kcoi) and departed to the south and then west towards marco island, FL. While remaining in contact with orlando approach. The pilot started her climb to 7500 feet. The flight without incident and all indications appeared normal. She began her climb and while climbing started leaning the mixture. She stated the mixture was ¼ lean but the RPM dropped below 1000. She immediately put mixture back to rich and applied full throttle but, the RPM remained the same. The aircraft began to lose altitude. During all this it appears the engine was inadvertently cut off and the PIC stated she tried to re-start without success and declared an emergency. The aircraft was located 16NM southwest of mlb with attempts for coi however, the loss in altitude prevented a return and now under mia center asked for their location and provided a heading to get the aircraft into valkaria, and 15-18 NM out from that location at 2800 feet and dropping. The PIC, decided to put the aircraft down on a dirt road located off of kimfer road, in the city of Kenansville, FL. The aircraft came to rest in a ditch. Jax air recovery, transported the aircraft back to jacksonville, pending further exams. The damage substantial due to spar damage both wings, fire wall damage, broken and engine components and mounts. The left gear came off and was approximately 50 feet forward and to the left of the aircraft due to contact with several fence poles was the cause of the majority of the damage to the wings. The right gear intact. The nose collapsed and the entire nose section has significant damage. When the left gear became dislodged it also, damaged the flap. The cockpit floor and forward bulkhead is buckled. A few windows were broken and the ELT mount broke therefore it did not go off and several parts were in the ditch. The aircraft did not appear to leak any fuel however, the land manager had environmental come out and assess the area and it appears he had no worries of what he saw. The fuel selector was in the left hand position and turned off. No signs of fuel in the left tank due to damage and the right tank had roughly 17-18 gallons. On September 8, 2021, an inspection was performed. The propeller blades were both bent aft mid-blade & the carburetor was fractured in half by impact forces. The fuel, oil lines and sparkplugs, intake and exhaust system all new. Other than the carburetor, the engine did not have any anomalies. The top spark plugs were removed and the propeller was rotated by hand, engine continuity was established through the engine drive train and the impulse coupling in the magnetos with continuity and compression was established on all cylinders. With that, and information provided by the pilot this inspector determined that the engine was accidently turned off and a re-start could not be performed. Further reports identify the part 61 school provided additional/remedial training to the pilot. All reports are recorded and on file for review. A complete analysis was performed and all efforts were exhausted to correct the problem by providing additional training and is acceptable. Therefore, no further action is required.