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The pilot of a light sport aircraft suffered an engine failure on approach; landing short of the airport in a cornfield without injury or damage.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 952530 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201106 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Light Sport Aircraft |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Landing |
| Route In Use | None |
| Flight Plan | VFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Engine |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Sport / Recreational |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 10 Flight Crew Total 285 Flight Crew Type 100 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical |
Narrative:
After approximately a forty five minute flight; I began to setup for a two mile landing approach at my departure airport. At about 1;700 ft the engine stuttered then stopped. I began emergency landing procedures; setup best glide attitude; picked best emergency landing field; tried to start the engine three times and declared an emergency--although my altitude was too low for unicom to hear me; so I idented the transponder (not enough time to squawk emergency code). A local pilot heard my mayday and relayed it to the airport.I completed a normal off airport landing in a cornfield. No injuries! No apparent damage to the aircraft. Contacted tower via phone and informed them of the situation. Tower was most helpful and offered assistance. I advised no further assistance was needed. An inspection discovered a blockage existed in the fuel vent line this is not an item on the preflight check list. I would strongly suggest that a cover used on this vent hose and blowing into hose as part of preflight.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: The pilot of a light sport aircraft suffered an engine failure on approach; landing short of the airport in a cornfield without injury or damage.
Narrative: After approximately a forty five minute flight; I began to setup for a two mile landing approach at my departure airport. At about 1;700 FT the engine stuttered then stopped. I began emergency landing procedures; setup best glide attitude; picked best emergency landing field; tried to start the engine three times and declared an emergency--although my altitude was too low for UNICOM to hear me; so I Idented the transponder (not enough time to squawk emergency code). A local pilot heard my mayday and relayed it to the airport.I completed a normal off airport landing in a cornfield. No injuries! No apparent damage to the aircraft. Contacted Tower via phone and informed them of the situation. Tower was most helpful and offered assistance. I advised no further assistance was needed. An inspection discovered a blockage existed in the fuel vent line this is NOT an item on the preflight check list. I would strongly suggest that a cover used on this vent hose and blowing into hose as part of preflight.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.