ERA16LA328

The pilot was conducting a local flight in the vintage military trainer airplane when the engine began to sputter and then experienced a total loss of power. He made an emergency landing in a farm field with the landing gear retracted and the airplane collided with a shallow drainage ditch. The engine separated from the firewall and came to rest under the right side of the fuselage. An undetermined amount of fuel was found in both wing fuel tanks. On-site examination of the engine revealed no mechanical failures; however, the engine was heavily impact damaged. No additional examination of the engine was performed and the reason for the power loss was not determined.

On September 23, 2016, about 1705 central daylight time, a North American T-28C, N526D, was substantially damaged during a forced landing following a loss of engine power near Greenwood, Mississippi. The commercial pilot was not injured. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the flight, which originated from Winona-Montgomery County Airport (5A6), Winona, Mississippi. According to the pilot, while on a local flight the airplane's engine began to "sputter" and then "quit." The pilot attempted an emergency landing with the landing gear retracted in a farm field. During the emergency landing the airplane collided with a shallow drainage ditch. The airplane came to rest upright, the engine separated from the firewall and was underneath the right side of the fuselage near the leading edge of the right wing. The airplane was manufactured in 1956 as a military trainer and was equipped with a Wright R-1820 series radial engine. It was issued a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) experimental exhibition special airworthiness certificate in 2013. An FAA inspector responded to the accident site and examined the wreckage. There was substantial structural damage to the engine firewall and forward fuselage. An undetermined amount of fuel was discovered in both wing tanks. Examination of the radial engine revealed that it sustained heavy external damaged; however, no obvious preimpact mechanical failures were observed and no additional examination of the engine was performed.