- Date
- March 3, 1990, 13:54 local (18:54 UTC)
- Place
- Wanchese, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3663LCessna 172G
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 14, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900303004289A
- Case key
- 8214
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 pilot's premature, discontinued use of carburetor heat.
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 pilot reported he climbed over a cloud bank a few hundred feet high, which was located over the inlet which flowed into the atlantic. As he transitioned through the cold front the OAT gauge dropped from 60 to 38 degrees. Once past the cloud bank, he reduced power and applied carburetor heat to descend below a second line of clouds and fog. He leveled at 1000 feet added full power and turned off the carburetor heat. Thirty seconds later the engine quit.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3663L
- Reported as
- Cessna 172G
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17253832
- Engine
- Continental O-300-D, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Melvin D. Burris
- Registered owner
- Unknown
- Departed
- 8W5 · Hatteras, NC
- Destination
- MQI · Manteo, NC
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
- 41
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 345 total · 156 in this make and model · 274 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MQI, 6 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.