- Date
- January 9, 1985, 17:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Houston, TX
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N73849Cessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850109016349A
- Case key
- 21655
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
Initially, after a top overhaul, the eng would not run. The mechanic removed the carburetor & found a piece of silicon. After reinstalling the carburetor, the eng operated normally. The plt then took off on a maintenance test flt. As he began a descent back toward the arpt, the eng stopped running & would not restart, except it restarted momentarily when he operated the primer. During an emergency landing, the acft hit a rice field levee & nosed over. An exam revealed that the fuel line had become disconnected from the carburetor at a threaded fitting. A laboratory exam of the threaded fitting revealed a lack of smearing or scratching that would have been present if the fitting had been properly torqued.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N73849
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17267720
- Airframe hours
- 1,979
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Part 91
- Registered owner
- Alfred C. Hableman
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · January 9, 1985 · 0 hours before
- Departed
- T17
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
- 33
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 488 total · 241 in this make and model · 386 as pilot in command · 36 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 120° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- 3 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.