Piper PA-28-235 N9318W

Summary

On 21 December 2005 at about 18:40 local time, a Piper PA-28-235 registered N9318W was involved in an accident near Peyton, Colorado, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

21 December 2005 at 18:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Peyton, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Meadowlake Airport (00V)

Coordinates

38.9456, -104.5697

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-235

Registration

N9318W

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Peyton → Peyton

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN06LA024

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's delay in applying carburetor heat that resulted in the partial loss of engine power due to carburetor ice. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

On the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, the pilot leaned the mixture to 50 degrees rich of peak, positioned the propeller lever full forward, and set the throttle to 1,200 RPM on the engine tachometer. After turning base, the pilot reduced the throttle in preparation of extending the flaps. The pilot then increased the throttle to maintain altitude; however, the engine power did not increase as the throttle was applied. The pilot rechecked the fuel pump, which was on, and applied carburetor heat, "which produced a constant and noticable further loss of power." The pilot checked the cockpit gauges and noticed all were in the green and verified the propeller was in the full forward position. The manifold pressure was approximately 12 inches and the engine tachometer was indicating 2,000 RPM. The pilot then immediately turned the airplane toward the runway; however, he could not make it to the runway. Subsequently, the pilot attempted a forced landing onto a nearby road. During the forced landing, the airplane landed in a ditch approximately 20 feet from the road. The airplane's right wing struck a fence post, and the airplane came to rest upright. At a salvage facility, the engine was examined and test run. The engine was test run twice at various power settings. No anomalies were noted during the examination and test runs. A review of a carburetor icing probability chart placed the reported temperature and dew point in the "icing at glide and cruise power" area of the chart.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.