- Date
- August 30, 2011, 20:48 local (Aug 31, 2011, 01:48 UTC)
- Place
- Sugar Creek, OH
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N7103MCessna 175
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Loss of engine power (partial)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report November 22, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA - Ceveland FSDO
- FAA report
- 20110830019849A
- Case key
- 81854
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 delayed application of carburetor heat while operating in conditions conducive to carburetor icing.
Findings · 2
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 reported that the airplane's engine began to run rough during level flight, with about a 70 percent power setting. He switched fuel tanks and applied carburetor heat, but the airplane's engine continued to run rough. The pilot initiated a forced landing to a cornfield during night light conditions. Postaccident examinations of the airplane revealed that the firewall was buckled. No anomalies were found with regard to the airplane, engine, or systems during the postaccident examinations. According to the Federal Aviation Administration icing probability chart, the airplane was operating in conditions conducive to carburetor icing at the time of the accident.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that the airplane's engine began to run rough during level flight with about a 70 percent power setting. He switched fuel tanks and applied carburetor heat, but the airplane's engine continued to run rough. The pilot initiated a forced landing to a cornfield during night light conditions. Postaccident examinations of the airplane revealed that the firewall was bent/buckled. No anomalies were found with regard to the airplane, engine, or systems during the postaccident examinations. A weather report for the destination airport recorded the temperature and dew point as 18 degrees Celsius and 16 degrees Celsius respectively. According to a Federal Aviation Administration Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin, entitled Carburetor Icing Prevention, the temperature and dew point were conducive to the formation of carburetor icing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7103M
- Reported as
- Cessna 175
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 55403
- Airframe hours
- 1,955
- Engine
- Cont Motor GO-300 SERIES, 175 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 18, 2011 · 36 hours before
- Departed
- PHD · New Philadelphi, OH
- Destination
- PHD · New Philadelphi, OH
- Flight plan
- Unknown
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
- 25
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 21, 2011
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 79 total · 79 in this make and model · 23 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- PHD, 25 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 4, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.9 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.