- Date
- August 15, 2015, 18:30 local (Aug 16, 2015, 02:30 UTC)
- Place
- Coldfoot, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8556EChampion 7HC
- Defining event
- Enroute-change of cruise level: Fuel related
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 14, 2016
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA Fairbanks FSDO
- FAA report
- 20150816017869A
- Case key
- 91804
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 recognize conditions favorable for carburetor icing and apply use of carburetor heat.
Findings · 4
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 climbing to cross a remote mountain pass when the airplane's engine lost partial power. The pilot turned the airplane to the left and the engine lost total power and started descending very quickly. The pilot attempted to make a forced landing to a road, but did not make it and landed the airplane in an area of rocks and a ditch. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage, and a postaccident fire then destroyed the airplane. Plotting temperature and dew point on a carburetor icing probability chart placed the conditions noted at the time of the accident as being probable for serious carburetor icing in cruise or climb power. The pilot stated that he did not use carburetor heat either during the climb, or after the engine lost power.
Factual narrative
The pilot was climbing to cross a remote mountain pass when the airplane's engine lost partial power. The pilot turned the airplane to the left and the engine lost total power and started descending very quickly. The pilot attempted to make a forced landing to a road, but did not make it and landed the airplane in an area of rocks and a ditch. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage, and a postaccident fire then destroyed the airplane. Plotting temperature and dew point on a carburetor icing probability chart placed the conditions noted at the time of the accident as being probable for serious carburetor icing in cruise or climb power. The pilot stated that he did not use carburetor heat either during the climb, or after the engine lost power.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8556E
- Reported as
- Champion 7HC (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7HC-5
- Built
- 1959
- Airframe hours
- 2,074
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290-D2, 135 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 1, 2014 · 40 hours before
- Departed
- CXF · Coldfoot, AK
- Destination
- GBH · Galbraith Lake, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Handheld GPS
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
- 23
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 6, 2015
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 107 total · 100 in this make and model · 75 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.03 inHg
- Observed at
- PAKP, 47 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 7, 2016, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.1 MB 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.
Other investigations on N8556E · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.