Incident to the Cessna - 182 - P registered N609PC on 28/02/2018 at Yonval (Somme)

Cat. 2 investigation report: simplified-format report, adapted to the circumstances of the occurrence and the investigation stakes.

The pilot, accompanied by a passenger in the right front seat, took off at around 09:10 from Touquet-Côte d'Opale aerodrome (Pas-de-Calais) for an IFR cross-country flight to Lognes-Émerainville aerodrome (Seine-et-Marne).
At the end of the climb and arriving at FL 70, the pilot and his passenger detected a smell of smoke, vibrations and an abnormal engine noise. The pilot shut down the engine and then tried to restart it, without success. The passenger in the right seat who had more flight experience then took the controls, made an emergency call and tried to divert and glide to Abbeville aerodrome (Somme). He realised quite quickly that he would not be able to reach the aerodrome. He chose a field and made an off-field forced landing at around 09:40.
Once on the ground, the two pilots inspected the plane and observed that the crankcase was perforated.
The BEA’s examinations of the engine showed that a fatigue failure of rod No 1 was behind the engine shutdown.
A fatigue failure of a rod on a similar engine was found by the BEA in a previous accident. The fatigue crack initiation process was different in these two occurrences. It was not possible to determine the cause of the fatigue failure of these two rods.