- Date
- June 5, 1994, 14:20 local (21:20 UTC)
- Place
- Sweet Home, OR
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9271TPiper PA-38
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 12, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940605013929A
- Case key
- 41940
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 delayed using carburetor heat until the engine had already lost power due to ice forming in the carburetor throat. Factors include carburetor icing conditions, and rough/uneven terrain in the field where the forced landing was made.
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
While flying in conditions where carburetor icing could be expected at both glide and cruise power, the pilot failed to apply carburetor heat to check for ice accumulation in the carburetor throat. The engine eventually lost power due to carburetor icing, and the pilot attempted a forced landing in a nearby field. During the landing roll in the rough/uneven terrain, the landing gear collapsed.
Factual narrative
On June 5, 1994, approximately 1420 Pacific daylight time (PDT), a Piper PA-38, N9271T, experienced a gear collapse during a forced landing near Sweet Home, Oregon. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The personal pleasure flight, which departed Lebanon State Airport, Lebanon, Oregon, about 20 minutes earlier, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT activation.
In a post-accident interview, the pilot said that the engine suddenly quit while he was maneuvering near Sweet Home, and he attempted a forced landing in a nearby field. During the landing roll on the rough/uneven terrain, the aircraft's gear collapsed.
No problems with the engine were found in a post-accident investigation, and the engine was started and found to run fine at the scene of the crash.
As part of the investigation, the temperature and dew point of the two nearest reporting stations were checked for the time of the accident. A station 27 miles south (Eugene, Oregon) showed a temperature of 62 degrees and a dew point of 48 degrees. A station 30 miles northwest (Salem, Oregon) showed a temperature of 61 degrees and a dew point of 52 degrees. These numbers were used to figure the probability of icing using the carburetor icing probability chart from the DOT/FAA/CT-82/44 publication. The numbers from the Eugene station showed the aircraft to be operating in conditions where carburetor icing could be expected to be serious at glide power. The figures from the Salem station showed the aircraft to be operating in conditions where carburetor icing could be expected to be serious at both glide and cruise power (see attachment #1).
Although the pilot applied carburetor heat after the engine had lost power, he had not applied it to check for ice accumulation in the carburetor throat prior to the loss of power.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9271T
- Reported as
- Piper PA-38
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 38-78A0309
- Airframe hours
- 1,828
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 112 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Wingren, Norman L.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 1, 1994 · 2 hours before
- Departed
- S30 · Lebanon, OR
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
- 66
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,440 total · 26 in this make and model · 1,440 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 225° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 61 °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.