The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has released its report into the fatal crash of an RV-6 at Mudgee in 2014.
VH-TXF crashed whilst turning onto base for runway 04 on 14 September 2014. The two occupants were killed in the impact.
According to the ATSB report released last Friday, the aircraft's engine cut out as it was turning final, leading to a stall at a low-level that the pilot could not recover from.
"The aeroplane's airspeed before the engine failure was within about 0.5 kt of the estimated stall speed during the high-bank turn," the ATSB concludes in the report.
"After the engine failure it is likely the aeroplane entered an aerodynamic stall. The associated loss of control was not recovered and the aircraft continued in the turn until it collided with terrain."
The ATSB report says the most likely cause of the engine failure was carburettor icing, because the atmospheric condition at the time of the crash were typical of that which causes icing, and that the carburettor heat knob was in the "off" position.
GPS data retrieved from the Garmin GPSMAP 296 on board the aircraft also showed that the base turn was done at only 305 feet with an angle-of-bank of 48 degrees.
The full investigation report is available on the ATSB website.