Cessna 150F N3376B

Summary

On 6 June 2014 at about 19:15 local time, a Cessna 150F registered N3376B was involved in an accident near Ronan, Montana, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 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

6 June 2014 at 19:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Ronan, Montana, United States

Nearest airport

Ronan (7S0)

Coordinates

47.5672, -114.1011

Aircraft

Cessna 150F

Registration

N3376B

Category

Airplane

Year built

1966

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ronan → St Ignatius

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR14LA232

2 people had minor injuries.

A loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined due to insufficient evidence.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed on the cross-country flight with a planned touch-and-go landing at an intermediate airport about 8 miles from the origination airport. The pilot reported that he applied carburetor heat for the approach and landing at the intermediate airport. After touchdown, in accordance with the operating procedures, the pilot retracted the flaps, shut off the carburetor heat, and applied full throttle for the takeoff and climbout. The engine began to lose power when the airplane had gained about 350 ft; the pilot reported that the low altitude prevented him from conducting any emergency procedures except to select an emergency landing location in a field. He did not apply carburetor heat or extend the flaps. The airplane struck a berm in the field, which caused it to nose over inverted and resulted in substantial damage. A postaccident examination of the engine initially revealed incomplete valve seating in one of the forward-most cylinders. Once the valves were staked, the valve seating was normal, so the initial abnormality was attributed to impact. The engine examination did not reveal any evidence of preimpact mechanical anomalies or deficiencies that would have resulted in the loss of power. Although carburetor icing envelope charts indicated the possibility of carburetor icing at glide power, the pilot's use of carburetor heat on the approach, the loss of power with the throttle set at takeoff power, and the ambient conditions were all consistent with a low likelihood of carburetor icing. Because detailed postaccident examination was limited to the engine, the investigation was unable to eliminate the possibility that an airframe or carburetor fuel delivery problem or water contamination of the fuel resulted in the engine power loss.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.