- Date
- July 6, 2013, 14:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Kodiak, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9118EAeronca 11AC
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Loss of engine power (partial)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 13, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA Anchorage FSDO
- FAA report
- 20130706011729A
- Case key
- 87451
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The loss of engine power due to carburetor icing and the pilot's failure to continue the use of carburetor heat after experiencing carburetor ice.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot was flying a potential buyer of the airplane on a pre-buy inspection flight. Just after leveling the airplane in cruise flight, the engine lost power momentarily. He applied carburetor heat, and the engine regained normal power. While returning to the airport, he turned the carburetor heat back off, and then on again, and the engine again lost power. He stated that this time, the engine power could not be restored, and with no suitable landing sites available within gliding distance, he ditched the airplane into the water paralleling the shoreline. During the ditching, the airplane nosed over, and sustained substantial damage to the left wing. Based on the temperature and dew point at the time of the accident, the conditions were favorable for serious carburetor icing at any power setting.
Factual narrative
The pilot was flying a potential buyer of the airplane on a pre-buy inspection flight. Just after leveling the airplane in cruise flight, the engine lost power momentarily. He applied carburetor heat, and the engine regained normal power. While returning to the airport, he turned the carburetor heat back off, and then on again, and the engine again lost power. He stated that this time, the engine power could not be restored, and with no suitable landing sites available within gliding distance, he ditched the airplane into the water paralleling the shoreline. During the ditching, the airplane nosed over, and sustained substantial damage to the left wing. Based on the temperature and dew point at the time of the accident, the conditions were favorable for serious carburetor icing at any power setting.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9118E
- Reported as
- Aeronca 11AC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 11AC-753
- Airframe hours
- 1,086
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-235-C-1, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 9, 2012 · 4 hours before
- Departed
- PAKD · Kodiak, AK
- Destination
- PAKD · Kodiak, AK
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 26
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 23, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 176 total · 75 in this make and model · 3 in the last 90 days · 0 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,300 ft broken
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.88 inHg
- Observed at
- PADQ, 6 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 26, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 769 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.