- Date
- September 6, 1986, 19:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Springfield, VA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 minor; on the ground: 1 fatal
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N34953Cessna 177B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 11214
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
According to the plt, the eng bgn running rough drg flt, then clrd & ran smoothly again. He rprtd he elected to abort the flt & made a turn, then svrl min later, the eng lost pwr. Drg an emerg lndg in a parking lot, the l main gear hit anauto & fatally injured the driver. Bfr coming to rest on an embankment, the acft hit 2 otr autos & a guy wire. Witnessesrprtd the acft was circling the area bfr the eng lost pwr. A friend of the plt was living aprx 2 blks fm the acdnt site. No preimpact part failure/malfunction was fnd. Drg a post-acdnt check, the eng operated normally. An inv revealed conds were conducive to carburetor (carb) icing. The plt made no mention of specifically using the carb heat drg the emerg. Also, the inv revealed the placard for the fuel selector (sel) was designed to restrict mvmnt of the sel to the l & rgt psns (no 'off' psn), but the placard was fnd outside the acft with no dmg. Sel was fnd in a psn that wld have shut off fuel to the eng. The plt rprtd he shut off the fuel when he was committed to lnd. Flt time since annual inspn: 4.4 hrs.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N34953
- Reported as
- Cessna 177B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17702114
- Airframe hours
- 3,358
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1F6D, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- David Nolan & James Kreitner
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 15, 1986 · 4 hours before
- Departed
- MD24 · Columbia, MD
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
- 36
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 510 total · 444 in this make and model · 281 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 330° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DCA, 10 nm away
Other investigations on N34953 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.