Stanley B E MURPHY REBEL N24V

Summary

On 13 April 2012 at about 15:15 local time, a Stanley B E MURPHY REBEL registered N24V was involved in an accident near Falmouth, Massachusetts, 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

13 April 2012 at 15:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Falmouth, Massachusetts, United States

Nearest airport

Falmouth Airpark (5B6)

Coordinates

41.5803, -70.5458

Aircraft

Stanley B E MURPHY REBEL

Registration

N24V

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fitchburg → Falmouth

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA12LA279

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's delayed application of carburetor heat, which resulted in a loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While completing a cross-country flight, with the airplane over a seacoast and descending to pattern altitude, the pilot reduced power. The engine "hesitated" a couple of times, so the pilot increased power and applied full rich mixture. As the engine "caught" and accelerated, the pilot applied carburetor heat. He then leveled the wings and looked at the wing root fuel sight gauges to confirm that the airplane had fuel. At the same time, the engine again began to run rough. The pilot rocked the wings to ensure that there was no air lock in the fuel lines and confirmed that the magnetos were on and the primer was in; however, the engine lost total power, the propeller stopped completely, and the airplane descended into a tree. The airplane was subsequently removed from the tree, fuel was confirmed onboard, and no preexisting mechanical anomalies were noted. The airplane's wings were then removed for its transport to a storage facility. At the facility, an auxiliary fuel tank was placed on top of the cabin, with fuel flow directly to the carburetor. After several attempts, the engine was started, and it eventually ran at all power settings. A carburetor icing probability chart revealed that, at the ambient temperature and dew point at the time of the accident, conditions favored carburetor icing at glide and cruise power. It is likely that, if the pilot had applied carburetor heat before his initial power reduction, it would have prevented the formation of carburetor ice and avoided the loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.