CEN23LA049

According to the pilot, he was flying with a friend in the local area and was returning to the departure airport when the accident occurred. He was operating the airplane with the fuel selector in the “BOTH” position. When the pilot made a turn with about 30° of bank, the engine began to “cut out.” The pilot stated that he leveled the wings and that the engine started to regain power just before it “sputtered and died.” The pilot immediately established the airplane’s best glide airspeed and selected a field for a forced landing. During the landing, the airplane impacted multiple trees, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage. The left and right fuel tanks had about 8 to 10 gallons of fuel per side. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed fuel in the gascolator, with no visible contamination, and no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. A review of weather conditions at the time of the accident showed no probability for carburetor icing. Thus, on the basis of the available evidence for this accident investigation, the cause of the loss of engine power could not be determined.

On November 24, 2022, about 1000 mountain standard time, a Cessna 182A airplane, N3886D, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident near Durango, Colorado. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to the pilot, he was flying with a friend in the local area and was returning to Durango when the accident occurred. He operated the airplane with the fuel selector in the “BOTH” position. When the pilot made a turn with about 30° of bank, the engine began to “cut out.” The pilot stated that he leveled the wings and that the engine started to regain power just before it “sputtered and died.” The pilot immediately established the airplane’s best glide airspeed and selected a field for a forced landing. During the landing, the airplane impacted multiple trees, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage. During recovery of the airplane the pilot drained both the left and right fuel tanks, which yielded about 8 to 10 gallons of fuel per side. The wings were then removed from the airplane to facilitate transport of the wreckage to the pilot’s shop, where the National Transportation Safety Board performed a postaccident examination of the airframe and engine. The examination revealed fuel in the gascolator, with no visible contamination, and no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. A review of weather conditions at the time of the accident showed no probability for carburetor icing.