SEA82DA094

Factual narrative

THE PILOT REPORTED THAT BEFORE LANDING, HE TURNED THE FUEL BOOST "ON", APPLIED CARBURETOR HEAT, AND SET THE POWER AT ROUGHLY 1500 RPM. HE REPORTED THAT THE MIXTURE HAD BEEN IN THE FULL RICH POSITION DURING THE ENTIRE FLIGHT. HE ENCOUNTERED A CROSSWIND ON FINAL APPROACH AND ATTEMPTED A POWER CORRECTION. HOWEVER, THERE WAS NO ENGINE RESPONSE. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE AIRCRAFT WAS SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED DURING A FORCED LANDING OFF OF THE AIRPORT. NO RESTART WAS ATTEMPTED. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED NO PRECRASH MALFUNCTION OR FAILURE OF THE AIRCRAFT OR ENGINE. HOWEVER, IT WAS NOTED THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE PILOT'S FLIGHT EXPERIENCE WAS IN A CESSNA 172. ALSO, IT WAS NOTED THAT THE MIXTURE CONTROL IN PIPER PA-28, N9544J, WAS SIMILAR TO THE CARBURETOR HEAT CONTROL IN MANY CESSNA 172 AIRCRAFT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12