Pilot Debrief

PIPER PA 28-180 near Carroll, OH — 2017-11-08

Final reportCEN18LA036
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Date
2017-11-08
Location
Carroll, OH, USA
Airport
LHQ
Aircraft
PIPER PA 28-180
Registration
N10GJ
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

The total loss of engine power due to carburetor icing.

NTSB narrative

The private pilot was conducting a personal flight to practice takeoffs and landings. The pilot stated that the airplane's engine lost total power while he was preparing to land. His attempt to restart the engine was unsuccessful. The airplane did not have sufficient altitude to reach the airport, so the pilot performed a forced landing into a field, resulting in substantial damage to the airplane's left wing. A postaccident examination of the airplane found that it had adequate fuel and that the airplane's electrical and mechanical fuel pumps were capable of delivering fuel. An engine ground run showed that the engine was capable of running. The temperature and dew point at the time of the accident were favorable for serious carburetor icing at any power setting. The pilot stated that, just before the loss of engine power, he applied carburetor heat in preparation for landing. On the basis of the available evidence, it is likely that the engine lost power after developing carburetor ice and that the application of carburetor heat was ineffective and had possibly exacerbated the problem by introducing hot, less dense air, which could further upset the fuel-air ratio. The pilot might have been unaware of the developing carburetor ice because the formation of ice would reduce rpm but might not result in rough engine operation. Thus, the reduction in rpm could have gone unnoticed given the normal engine power setting changes when the airplane was in the traffic pattern.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Engine power loss
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have checked for carburetor icing before applying carburetor heat.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 3 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents3

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