ERA23LA351 · Nanchang China CJ-6A

The pilot reported that, during a cross-country flight, he chose to divert to a closer airport due to weather and air traffic control delays. About 40 nautical miles from the diversion airport, the engine lost total power. The pilot attempted to restart the engine, but was unsuccessful in restoring power and chose to conduct a forced landing into trees. The airplane impacted the trees and sustained substantial damage to both wings, the fuselage, and the left horizontal stabilizer. A video recorded by a witness near the accident site captured the sound of the engine cutting in and out before ultimately going silent, which was consistent with an additional witness report. Based upon fueling records and the pilot’s report of his fuel planning and the airplane’s fuel consumption rate, the airplane should have had about one hour of fuel remaining at the time of the loss of power. Due to the airplane damage, the total fuel quantity on board could not be established; however, the smell of fuel was present at the accident site. Examination of the engine found that a small piece of the intake duct work of a cylinder was missing. While having this piece missing could have resulted in under-performance of the engine or a partial loss of power, it is unlikely this would have resulted in a total loss of engine power. There were no other preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures found with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and the reason for the loss of power could not be determined.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset