- Date
- January 21, 1990, 15:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Goliad, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N9892QCessna 172M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 29, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900121001009A
- Case key
- 23097
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 in command's failure to identify and correct for carburetor icing conditions which existed at the time of the accident and precipitated the precautionary landing.
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 pilot, who had borrowed the airplane reported that he was in cruise flight at 1,500 feet MSL, looking at property, when the engine backfired and started to 'sputter.' Switching tanks and applying carburetor heat for an undetermined time did not alleviate the problem. The pilot elected to execute a precautionary landing on a ranch road. During the landing roll, the right wing struck a tree and veered right, causing the left wing to strike the ground. The owner recovered the airplane and stated that the engine operated normally throughout 2 starts, run ups, and the subsequent takeoff and flight. The temperature/dew point conditions that existed at the time of the accident were conducive to the formation of carburetor ice at cruise and glide power settings.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9892Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17265836
- Airframe hours
- 3,176
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Darlow, Scott
- Registered owner
- Harris, William H
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 2, 1989 · 71 hours before
- Departed
- IWS · Houston, TX
- Destination
- NONE · Goliad, TX
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
- 31
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 116 total · 73 in this make and model · 59 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- VCT, 22 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.
Other investigations on N9892Q · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.