- Date
- August 2, 1983, 19:50 local (Aug 3, 1983, 00:50 UTC)
- Place
- Birmingham, AL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N738NVCessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830802041349A
- Case key
- 6152
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The instructor (CFI) reported the eng began missing when power was applied after practicing stalls. A decision was made to return to the arpt. Carburetor heat was applied & the throttle was retarded to descend. The mixture was in full rich. After a couple of minutes, the eng began running rough & losing power. Carburetor heat & the throttle were adjusted in an unsuccessful attempt to restore power. A decision was made to land on an unopened highway. During final apch, the acft struck a power line. Subsequently, it impacted the ground nose 1st. Aprx 10 gal of fuel was remaining. All but 1 spark plug was found oily & sooty. The eng was started & ran smoothly to 1200 RPM. It had 50 hrs of operation since overhaul. The plt handbook stated cruise should be at 65 to 75% power for 50 hrs or until oil consumption has been stopped. A champion spark plug publication stated wet, oily plugs may be caused by an eng still in a break-in period.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N738NV
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17270116
- Airframe hours
- 1,600
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Birmingham Flying Club
- Registered owner
- W. Charles Harmon
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 18, 1982 · 344 hours before
- Departed
- BHM · Birmingham, AL
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
- 24
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 976 total · 369 in this make and model · 855 as pilot in command · 237 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 180° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BHM, 7 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.