Cessna 172B N2629U

Summary

On 15 February 2007 at about 17:15 local time, a Cessna 172B registered N2629U, operated by David E. Earley Jr., was involved in an accident near Stephenville, Texas, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

15 February 2007 at 17:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Stephenville, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Clark Field Municipal (KSEP)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Cessna 172B

Registration

N2629U

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

David E. Earley Jr.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Dublin → Stephenville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DFW07CA070

1 person had minor injuries.

The loss of engine power during the landing approach due to the pilot's failure to follow the appropriate procedures to preclude carburetor ice in known carburetor icing conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot reported a loss of engine power when he reduced power during the landing approach. He was unable to restart the engine, and realized he would not be able to glide to the airport. He made a forced landing in a field, but collided with trees prior to landing. The airplane's right wing separated from the fuselage, and the airplane came to rest inverted. In the pilot's report to the NTSB, he checked the block "Was there mechanical malfunction/failure?" as "Unknown." In the recommendations section of the report, he wrote: "I believe I had carb ice-I think if I would not have reduced power to idle this would have prevented the accident." The temperature and dew point in the vicinity of the accident site were 28F and 19F, respectively. An icing probability chart indicates that this combination is likely to produce moderate carburetor icing at idle power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.