NTSB Factual Report

On September 22, 2013, about 1430 eastern daylight time, a De Havilland DH 82A, N9410, registered to and operated by a private individual, collided with trees during a forced landing at Old Rhinebeck Airport (NY94), Rhinebeck, New York. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal, local flight from NY94. The airplane sustained substantial damage and the commercial pilot, the sole occupant was not injured. The flight originated about 1 minute earlier from NY94.

The pilot stated that before departure he performed a preflight inspection of the airplane which included checking the fuel tank and fuel strainer for contaminants; none were found. Before takeoff, he performed a magneto check twice; the first time was at idle and the second was at 1,500 rpm, no discrepancies were reported. With the wind from the north, he elected to depart to the north applying full power (the engine rpm indicated full power). At the departure end of the runway at 400 feet above ground level, he throttled back to between 1,300 and 1,400 rpm, and about 1 minute later with the mixture control full rich, the engine began backfiring with, "a couple of pops" then backfired hard and quit. The engine resumed operation a couple seconds later. He reported at the first sign of an engine issue he turned to return, and 2 more times heard a loud bang from the engine which quit. He reported that witnesses on the ground could hear the backfiring. After clearing trees he slipped the airplane to lose altitude for a downwind landing on the southerly oriented down sloping runway, and realized that he was running out of runway. With a road past the end of the runway, he intentionally directed the airplane to the left and collided with small trees which damaged both of the wings and also damaged the engine mount.

Examination of the engine was performed by an airframe and powerplant mechanic with inspection authorization (IA) with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversight. The engine was started briefly but a sustained engine run to full power could not be performed due to the damaged engine mount. Inspection of the air induction, ignition system, and fuel system components revealed no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction. No determination could be made as to the reason for the reported total loss of engine power.

Although the conditions were favorable for serious icing at glide power (or reduced power) based on the temperature and dew point about the time of the accident (64 and 45 degrees, respectively), the pilot reported that the engine developed full power during the takeoff roll.

NTSB Probable Cause

The total loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examinations revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation, which resulted in a forced landing into trees.