- Date
- December 28, 1990, 11:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Sierra Vista, AZ
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N5968WPiper PA-28-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19901228056449A
- Case key
- 27082
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
Loss of engine power due to carburetor ice from improper use of the carburetor heat control.
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 flight originated at the Sierra Vista airport as a local area personal flight to practice takeoffs and landings. According to the pilot's statement, the aircraft was climbing out from the fourth touch and go when the engine began to run rough and loose power. The pilot's attempts to remedy the loss of power were unsuccessful and the aircraft collided with trees 200 feet short of the runway while attempting a return to the runway. The Sierra Vista, Arizona, aviation weather observation taken at the time of the accident reported a temperature of 52 degrees and a dew point of 47 degrees. Review of a carburetor icing probability chart revealed that the temperature and dew point falls within an area defined as 'serious icing -- cruise or climb power.'
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5968W
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-3860
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Belt Michael E
- Registered owner
- Belt, Michael E Joy N.
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
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 511 total · 245 in this make and model · 2 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 6 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 46 °F
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 N5968W · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.