Eagleston John H VANS RV9A N708JE

Summary

On 28 January 2015 at about 17:00 local time, a Eagleston John H VANS RV9A registered N708JE, operated by Angle DEE, was involved in an accident near Kingston, Oklahoma, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 January 2015 at 17:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Kingston, Oklahoma, United States

Coordinates

33.9581, -96.5892

Aircraft

Eagleston John H VANS RV9A

Registration

N708JE

Category

Airplane

Year built

2008

Engines

1

Operator

Angle DEE

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Durant → Durant

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN15FA127

1 person died.

The pilot’s continuation of a banked turn following the loss of engine power, which resulted in his failure to maintain adequate airspeed and the airplane exceeding its critical angle of attack and entering an accelerated stall at low altitude. Contributing to the accident was the loss of engine power due to carburetor icing as a result of the airplane's degraded carburetor heat system.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot contacted a friend who was in a fishing boat and told him he was going to fly over the lake. The friend then saw the airplane circle over his fishing boat, which was a prearranged signal by the student pilot to notify the friend to drive his fishing boat towards a better fishing spot. The airplane was flying in a descending left turn and impacted the water and sank. The airplane was located the following day and was recovered to the shore. Although damage was sustained during the recovery phase, an examination of the airframe did not find any preimpact anomalies. The circumstances of the accident are consistent with an accelerated stall while the airplane maneuvering at low altitude. An examination of the engine found that continuity to the engine controls was established with the exception of the carburetor heat gate cable. An examination of the carburetor heat gate cable did not find any deformation consistent with the set screw being installed properly at the time of the impact. A family member reported that the pilot previously had the carburetor heat repaired, but no logbook entry could be found to tell when and by whom the carburetor heat was repaired. A review of the carburetor icing probability chart found that, at the time of the accident, the airplane operated in an area with the potential for serious icing at glide power. During the circling maneuver, it is likely that the pilot was operating the airplane a reduced power setting, which resulted in the formation of carburetor icing and led to a loss of engine power. However, once power was lost, the pilot continued in a bank turn, which resulted in the accelerated stall, rather than maintaining level flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.