ERA22LA046

During a flight at night and in visual meteorological conditions, after descending to about 1,600 ft mean sea level on a localizer approach, the engine began to “sputter.” The pilot applied the carburetor heat, and the engine “got a little surge of power” and he pushed the carburetor heat back in (OFF). The engine sputtered again, and he re-applied the carburetor heat. He then raised the nose to gain altitude, and the engine stopped completely. The pilot attempted to perform a forced landing to a road; however, the airplane came to rest in a tree canopy about 10 nautical miles southeast of the airport. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings, the right aileron, and the horizontal stabilizers. A postaccident examination of the wreckage, and a test run of the airplane’s engine, revealed no evidence of pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Review of weather conditions indicated the potential for serious icing at cruise power for the reported temperature and dew point; therefore, it is likely that the loss of engine power was the result of carburetor ice.

On November 4, 2021, at 1930 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 150M, N704HQ, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Margarettsville, North Carolina. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot reported that, after descending to about 1,600 ft mean sea level, while on the localizer approach to runway 34 at the Emporia-Greensville Regional Airport (EMV), Emporia, Virginia, the engine began to “sputter.” He applied the carburetor heat, the engine “got a little surge of power,” and he pushed the carburetor heat back in (OFF). The engine sputtered again, and he re-applied the carburetor heat. He then raised the nose to gain altitude, and the engine stopped completely. He turned the airplane toward a road he had recently overflown, declared an emergency, and landed in the tree canopy about 10 nautical miles southeast of EMV. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the throttle, mixture, and carburetor heat controls remained intact and functioned normally. Fuel drained from the carburetor was blue in color with no water or debris present. The top sparkplugs were removed; their electrodes were grey in color and appeared “worn normal” when compared to a Champion Check-a-Plug Chart. Fuel was plumbed into the engine from an external fuel tank to the carburetor. The engine was primed, started, ran at idle without anomalies, and responded to throttle inputs. The 1935 weather observation reported at EMV included a temperature of 6°C and dew point of 5°C. A review of a carburetor icing probability chart revealed that in those conditions, the probability of carburetor icing was “serious” at cruise power.