- Date
- November 26, 2021, 11:10 local (20:10 UTC)
- Place
- Palmer, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1380APiper PA-18
- Defining event
- Enroute: Loss of engine power (partial)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20211126019939I
- Case key
- 104338
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
The pilot’s failure to effectively use carburetor heat in conditions conducive to the formation of carburetor ice, which resulted in a partial loss of engine power, off-airport landing, and nose over.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings.
Analysis
The pilot reported that, while enroute, the airplane encountered carburetor icing, and he made a precautionary landing on an off-airport snow-covered airstrip. During the landing, the airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the empennage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1380A
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18 (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-1211
- Built
- 1951
- Airframe hours
- 11,854
- Engine
- Lycoming O 320-B2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 15, 2021
- Departed
- PAAQ · Palmer, AK
- Equipment
- None
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 land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 26, 2021
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 696.2 total · 624.2 as pilot in command · 13.2 in the last 90 days · 4.2 in the last 30 days · 1.5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -4 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.62 inHg
- Observed at
- PAAQ, 25 nm away
- METAR
- PAAQ 261953Z 00000KT 10SM SCT037 BKN100 M18/M20 A2962 RMK AO2 SLP040 T11831200
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 12, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.5 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.