Piper J-3 N98875

Summary

On 18 August 2007 at about 18:45 local time, a Piper J-3 registered N98875 was involved in an accident near Big Lake, Alaska, United States. 2 people were 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

18 August 2007 at 18:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Big Lake, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

61.3944, -149.8456

Aircraft

Piper J-3

Registration

N98875

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Anchorage → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC07LA088

Nobody was injured.

The flight instructor's delayed instructions to apply the carburetor heat, and his inadequate supervision. A factor contributing to the accident was carburetor icing conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The local instructional flight was on an extended, low power descending approach to a remote airstrip when the engine lost power. Remedial actions to restore engine power, including pulling the carburetor heat on, did not restore engine power. The flight instructor seated in the rear seat of the tandem, two seat airplane, realized the airplane was too low to reach the airstrip, and he took the controls from the front seat pilot. The instructor made an off-airport emergency landing in soft terrain, and the airplane nosed over. Postaccident inspection disclosed ample fuel and no preimpact mechanical problems. The front seat pilot related that he did not have the carburetor heat on until the loss of engine power occurred, and the instructor told him to turn it on. He also said that there were low, wispy clouds in the area. A local weather report indicated that the temperature was 57F, and the dew point was 52F. When these values are entered into a carburetor icing probability chart, the results are in the "Serious Icing" category. Carburetor ice likely formed inside the carburetor, which resulted in the loss of engine power. Carburetor heat becomes ineffective once the engine has lost power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.