CEN18LA036

The private pilot was conducting a personal flight to practice takeoffs and landings. The pilot stated that the airplane's engine lost total power while he was preparing to land. His attempt to restart the engine was unsuccessful. The airplane did not have sufficient altitude to reach the airport, so the pilot performed a forced landing into a field, resulting in substantial damage to the airplane's left wing. A postaccident examination of the airplane found that it had adequate fuel and that the airplane's electrical and mechanical fuel pumps were capable of delivering fuel. An engine ground run showed that the engine was capable of running. The temperature and dew point at the time of the accident were favorable for serious carburetor icing at any power setting. The pilot stated that, just before the loss of engine power, he applied carburetor heat in preparation for landing. On the basis of the available evidence, it is likely that the engine lost power after developing carburetor ice and that the application of carburetor heat was ineffective and had possibly exacerbated the problem by introducing hot, less dense air, which could further upset the fuel-air ratio. The pilot might have been unaware of the developing carburetor ice because the formation of ice would reduce rpm but might not result in rough engine operation. Thus, the reduction in rpm could have gone unnoticed given the normal engine power setting changes when the airplane was in the traffic pattern.

On November 8, 2017, about 1230 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-28-180 airplane, N10GJ, was damaged during a forced landing following a loss of engine power near Carroll, Ohio. The pilot was not injured. The airplane received substantial damage to its left wing. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which was not on a flight plan. The local flight originated from the Fairfield County Airport(LHQ), Lancaster, Ohio, about 1200. The pilot reported that he was performing takeoff and landing practice and while on the downwind leg of the airport traffic pattern he applied carburetor heat, 10° flaps, turned on the fuel pump, and reduced throttle to 1,500 rpm to set up for the base leg. He stated that the engine suddenly stopped producing power and was unresponsive to throttle input. He attempted to restart the engine without success. He turned the airplane onto a base leg but had insufficient altitude to make it back to the airport and landed in a field. Subsequent examination of the airplane revealed that it had about 36 gallons of fuel remaining. A ground run of the engine was performed and the engine started and was run for several minutes at power setting from 1,500 to 1,700 rpm. Additional testing of the airplane's electric fuel boost pump and engine driven fuel pump revealed that both pumps were capable of pumping fuel. No anomalies were discovered that would explain the loss of engine power. The temperature and dew point recorded at the accident airport about the time of the accident were 9° and 2° Celsius respectively. The recorded temperature and dew point were in the range of susceptibility for serious carburetor icing at any power setting. An article on carburetor icing published by Flight Safety Australia stated that if ice forms in the carburetor of a fixed pitch propeller aircraft, the restriction to the induction airflow will reduce power and force a drop in rpm, which might be accompanied or followed by rough running as the fuel/air mixture ratio is upset. Applying carburetor heat introduces less dense hot air which will cause a further drop in rpm.