Pilot Debrief

Cessna 150 near Surry, ME — 2020-08-17

Final reportERA20LA289
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Date
2020-08-17
Location
Surry, ME, USA
Airport
BHB
Aircraft
Cessna 150
Registration
N45083
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Descent

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to use carburetor heat in conditions conducive to serious carburetor icing at glide power, which resulted in a loss of engine power and a forced ditching in water.

NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, during the descent into the traffic pattern at the destination airport (after an uneventful cross-country flight en route), the engine sputtered and then lost power while the propeller continued to windmill. The pilot adjusted the throttle and rocked the wings to restart the engine but was unable to restore power. The pilot elected to ditch the airplane near the shoreline in a bay. He and his passenger egressed and swam to the beach, and the airplane partially sank and nosed over after their evacuation. The fuselage and wings sustained substantial damage. After the airplane was recovered to land, postaccident examination did not reveal any evidence of a preimpact mechanical malfunction. The quantity of fuel that remained on board could not be determined due a substantial amount of salt water that had entered one of the fuel tanks; the other tank contained no fuel or salt water. About 1 gallon of fuel was drained from the gascolator. The pilot believed he utilized about 2 hours and 10 minutes of the available 3 hours of fuel on board. The flight time the pilot reported was consistent with radar data. Review of a carburetor icing probability chart for the given temperature and dew point revealed that the conditions were conducive for serious icing at glide power. The pilot could not recall whether he applied carburetor heat during the descent to land. Postaccident examination of the lever found that it was in the OFF position. The pilot added that applying carburetor heat during flight was something he was not normally accustomed to, given that most of his flight experience was with fuel-injected engines, which do not require carburetor heat. It is likely that the carburetor heat was not utilized for the descent and approach to landing, which likely allowed carburetor ice to form, which resulted in the loss of engine power.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Engine power loss
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have applied carburetor heat during descent to prevent icing.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 6 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents6

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