CEN17LA041

The student pilot reported that, shortly after departing for a local, personal flight and while the airplane was about 875 ft above ground level, the engine lost all power. The student attempted to restart the engine without success. Subsequently, he conducted a forced landing in a field, during which the left main landing gear and wing struck a dirt mound, and the airplane nosed over, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage, the right wing spar and leading edge, and the left wing attachment. Postaccident examination of the fuel system revealed that there was debris inside the fuel selector valve check ball. The debris likely restricted the fuel flow to the engine and led to the loss of all engine power due to fuel starvation.

On November 13, 2016, about 1530 central standard time, a Flight Design CTSW single engine airplane, N329CT, was substantially damaged during a forced landing shortly after takeoff from Omni Airport (LA46), Port Allen, Louisiana. The student pilot, the sole occupant aboard, was not injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions were reported at the airport about the time of the accident, and no flight plan had been filed for the local flight. According to the pilot, the airplane departed to the north and climbed to about 500 ft, and then turned west. About 875 ft, the engine made a "sneeze", lost power, and then the propeller stopped turning, The pilot tried to restart the engine several times, without success. During the forced landing in a sugar cane field, the left main landing gear and wing struck a dirt mound and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the lower front end of the fuselage, the right wing spar and leading edge, and left wing attachment fitting. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who responded to the accident, clean fuel was found in the fuel tanks, but the gascolator bowl was rusty and corroded. The right-wing fuel intake filter end cap was missing. An examination of the fuel lines and the fuel selector shutoff valve found soft hose-like debris in the check ball section of the valve which was obstructing fuel flow. No other defects were noted with the engine or fuel system.