RV-9
Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 25; Flight Crew Total 845; Flight Crew Type 825
Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Object; Ground Excursion Runway
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; Flight Crew Inflight Shutdown
Human Factors
At night; cleared to land. Below 500 feet; after selecting 20 degrees of flaps; and bringing the nose up to slow down; a total loss of engine power occurred. An attempt to restart the engine failed. Gliding down I landed on the extended runoff area prior to the threshold of the runway. The aircraft continued rolling and was unable to stop before contact with plastic barriers placed across the pavement. The nose gear wheel pant was damaged with the fiberglass cracked.After the incident I found the two electronic ignition power switches in the OFF position. The only explanation is that during the run-up; these were turned off to check the internal power from the EMAG ignition; and they were never turned back on. The ignition supplies its own power; unless the engine RPM drops below approximately 1400 RPM. Once the engine RPM got too low; both ignition EMAG devices stopped supplying the spark plugs.
Vans RV-9 pilot reported the engine quit on short final; leading to slight damage to a wheel pant after a runway excursion. Reporter stated after landing he found the ignition power switches in the wrong position; causing the engine to shut down.