- Date
- June 7, 2005, 18:10 local (Jun 8, 2005, 01:10 UTC)
- Place
- Buckley, WA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N2751SCessna 150G
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 13, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20050607009079A
- Case key
- 61655
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's failure to use carburetor heat which resulted in a loss of engine power due to carburetor ice and a forced landing. Contributing factors were the carburetor icing conditions and the lack of suitable terrain for the forced 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
According to the pilot, after flying in the local area for about 30 minutes, he returned to the private airstrip and completed an approach and full stop landing. The approach was made with the carburetor heat on. The pilot then taxied the airplane back to the end of the runway, completed a run up and departed. He noticed the airplane was not climbing normally, and at approximately 300 feet agl, the engine coughed twice and lost power. The pilot executed a forced landing on a school football field. During the landing roll, the airplane impacted a chain link fence. After exiting the airplane, the pilot noticed "a small puddle and dripping coming from the engine cowl." The pilot concluded this was "probably ice melting out of the carburetor." The following morning, the pilot returned to the scene of the accident and started the engine, which "fired right off and ran smoothly." The reported weather conditions included a temperature of 54 degrees F and a dew point of 51 degrees F. When plotted on a carburetor icing probability chart, this combination of temperature and dew point falls in the area conducive to the formation of serious carburetor icing at cruise power.
Factual narrative
On June 7, 2005, at 1810 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 150G, N2751S, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing following a loss of engine power on takeoff from a private airstrip near Buckley, Washington. The commercial pilot and his passenger were not injured. The airplane was registered to a private individual and operated by the pilot under 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight that departed from the private airstrip about 1730.
According to the pilot, after flying in the local area for about 30 minutes, he returned to the Burnett Landing private airstrip and completed an approach and full stop landing on runway 31. The approach was made with the carburetor heat on. The pilot then taxied the airplane back to the end of the runway, completed a run up and departed. He noticed the airplane was not climbing normally, and at approximately 300 feet agl, the engine coughed twice and lost power. The pilot executed a forced landing on a school football field. During the landing roll, the airplane impacted a chain link fence. Both wings and the right elevator sustained structural damage.
After exiting the airplane, the pilot noticed "a small puddle and dripping coming from the engine cowl." The pilot concluded this was "probably ice melting out of the carburetor." The following morning, the pilot returned to the scene of the accident and started the engine, which "fired right off and ran smoothly."
The reported weather conditions at 1755 at McChord Air Force Base, Tacoma, Washington, located about 20 nautical miles west of the accident site, included a temperature of 54 degrees F and a dew point of 51 degrees F. When plotted on a carburetor icing probability chart, this combination of temperature and dew point falls in the area conducive to the formation of serious carburetor icing at cruise power.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2751S
- Reported as
- Cessna 150G
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15066651
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Robert J. O'Harra
- Registered owner
- Benjamin E. Woods
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Buckley, WA
- Airport
- NONE · Burnett Landing, runway 31
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
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 2,200 total · 843 in this make and model · 14 in the last 90 days · 14 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 52 °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 N2751S · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.