- Date
- November 4, 1990, 16:40 local (23:40 UTC)
- Place
- Afton, WY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9609GChristen Industries A-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 23, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19901104052139A
- Case key
- 41359
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
An improper maintenance modification to disable the carburetor heat control by unknown personnel.
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
During a cross country flight, the airplane experienced a loss of engine power. The pilot initiated a forced landing, during the landing roll, the airplane struck a ditch and nosed over. Inspection of the engine revealed that the carburetor heat valve had been secured in the cold or off position. This modification did not allow for the carburetor heat to be applied. At the time of the engine failure, the airplane was operating in icing conditions. There were no other mechanical failures or malfunctions found.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9609G
- Reported as
- Christen Industries A-1
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1156
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-C1G, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Heiner, Mark G
- Registered owner
- Unknown
- Departed
- BFF · Scottsbluff, NE
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
- 41
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 1,632 total · 365 in this make and model · 1,632 as pilot in command · 154 in the last 90 days · 67 in the last 30 days · 9 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,400 ft overcast
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.