- Date
- March 28, 1990, 07:20 local (14:20 UTC)
- Place
- Whitewater, MT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N7134KPiper PA-18-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 15, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900328011339A
- Case key
- 17910
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
Pilot's delayed use of carburetor heat and the subsequent induction icing related partial power loss. Contributing factors were the carburetor icing conditions and the unsuitable terrain in which the forced landing was performed.
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 private pilot encountered freezing fog and haze, reduucing the visibility to three miles. He turned back to land but the engine began to run rough. He added carburetor heat but the engine became rougher and reduced to partial power. The pilot selected a ridge in rough terrain and made a forced landing. At touchdown, the tail lifted and the plane nosed over. The vertical stabilizer, elevator, wings, cowling and firewall were bent. During a postaccident engine run the engine operated normally and ran for five minutes.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7134K
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-352
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Clinton Cox
- Departed
- NONE
- Destination
- NONE
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
- 40
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 480 total · 480 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.