Pilot Debrief

PIPER PA 28-180 near Cuba, NM — 2016-09-04

Final reportCEN16LA349
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Date
2016-09-04
Location
Cuba, NM, USA
Aircraft
PIPER PA 28-180
Registration
N9241J
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Cruise

Probable cause

A partial loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined based on available information.

NTSB narrative

The private pilot and passenger departed on a night cross-country flight using flight following. About 2 hours after departure, the engine suddenly lost partial power. The pilot checked the engine gauges, which were all in the green, and advised air traffic control (ATC) of the loss of engine power. The pilot switched fuel tanks, then activated the carburetor heat. He tried switching magnetos and enriching the mixture for "a few seconds." He then leaned the mixture again and "deactivated the carb heat," all with no changes observed in engine power. The pilot declared an emergency with ATC and used his tablet computer's navigation application to align the airplane over a road. Upon touchdown, the airplane's wing impacted a guardrail, and the airplane subsequently nosed over. Although weather conditions at the nearest weather reporting facility about 50 miles from the accident site were conducive to the accumulation of serious carburetor icing at cruise power, the investigation could not determine whether the loss of power was a result of carburetor ice, and no postaccident examination of the engine was conducted to rule out other causes.

Analysis

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

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 4 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents4

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