CEN16LA299

The private pilot was conducting a local personal flight, which was the airplane's first flight following its annual inspection. The pilot reported that, while on the downwind leg, he reduced power for landing and that the engine then lost power. During the subsequent forced landing, the airplane encountered a crosswind gust and then bounced twice, which caused substantial firewall damage. An examination of the carburetor revealed no anomalies. The weather conditions at the time of the accident were conducive to the accumulation of serious carburetor icing at descent power settings. It is likely that the engine power lost power due to carburetor icing.

On July 16, 2016, about 1645 central daylight time, an Engineering & Research 415 C airplane, N99307, impacted terrain during a forced landing on runway 9 at the Ogle County Airport (C55), near Mount Morris, Illinois, following an inflight loss of engine power. The pilot was uninjured. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed in the area about the time of the accident, and the flight was not operated on a flight plan. The local flight originated from C55 about 1640.According to the pilot, this was the airplane's first flight following its annual inspection. The airplane departed from runway 27. On downwind the pilot reduced power for landing and the engine lost power. The pilot stated that he turned to land on runway 9. During the forced landing, the airplane encountered a crosswind gust and the airplane sustained the substantial firewall damage when it bounced twice on the runway. At 1554, the recorded weather at the Chicago/Rockford International Airport (RFD), near Rockford, Illinois, was: wind 140 at 8 knots; visibility 10 statute miles; sky condition scattered clouds at 5,000, broken clouds at 25,000 feet; temperature 26 degrees C; dew point 13 degrees C; altimeter 30.11 inches of mercury. The pilot indicated in his accident report that that there was a carburetor mechanical malfunction. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector had the carburetor examined by a mechanic. No carburetor anomalies were detected. However, the inspector plotted RFD's temperature and dew point at the time of the accident on a carburetor icing probability chart. The plot showed a probability of serious icing at descent power settings.