NTSB: Engine cut out on plane that crashed at Sisters Eagle Airport
Pilot, passenger escaped serious injury
SISTERS, Ore. (KTVZ) – A small plane crashed earlier this month at Sisters Eagle Airport, leaving two occupants with minor injuries, when the engine suddenly stopped 150 to 200 feet in the air and wouldn’t restart, federal investigators said in their preliminary report.
The crash occurred in the early evening of Wednesday, March 3 in a field south of East Sun Ranch Drive and west of Camp Polk Road, Deschutes County sheriff's deputies said.
Deputies said the plane struck the top of a tree before hitting the ground, coming to rest in a dry pond on private property in the 69000 block of Camp Polk Road.
The pilot, a 23-year-old Bend woman, received non-life-threatening injuries and was taken by private vehicle to St. Charles Bend. The passenger, a 24-year-old Bend man, was evaluated by medics on the scene.
The National Transportation Safety Board investigator said the pilot of the nearly 50-year-old Cessna 172G "reported the first part of the flight was uneventful, with multiple touch and go landings at nearby airports."
"Upon returning to the originating airport, the pilot demonstrated a forward slip at idle power, with no flaps during the approach," Investigator In Charge James Bledsoe said in his report, noting that the NTSB did not travel to the crash scene.
"The approach was fast, and the airplane bounced on landing," he wrote. "The pilot initiated a go-around by applying full throttle and turning off carburetor heat.
"At about 150-200 ft above ground level, the engine suddenly stopped. The pilot set mixture to full rich and attempted to restart the engine. She continued cranking the engine and simultaneously adjusting the carburetor heat and mixture.
"Despite her actions, the engine did not restart. The airplane landed hard during the forced landing and came to rest in a nose down position. ... The airplane impacted uneven terrain. The empennage, both wings and the forward fuselage sustained substantial damage."
