Cessna 172D N2320U

Summary

On 3 July 2015 at about 17:00 local time, a Cessna 172D registered N2320U was involved in an accident near Shenandoah, 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

3 July 2015 at 17:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Shenandoah, Texas, United States

Coordinates

30.1858, -95.4475

Aircraft

Cessna 172D

Registration

N2320U

Category

Airplane

Year built

1962

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cleveland → Houston

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN15LA292

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's delayed application of carburetor heat, which resulted in the total loss of engine power due to carburetor icing during cruise flight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot reported that he was conducting a personal flight when the engine began to "sputter and lose power" during cruise flight. He was unable to restore full engine power after applying carburetor heat, selecting a full-rich mixture setting, and verifying that the selector valve was positioned to draw fuel from both tanks. The engine subsequently lost total power, and the pilot made a forced landing to a nearby vacant parking lot. The pilot was unable to stop the airplane during the landing roll before it impacted a concrete curb and nosed over. Postaccident engine examination did not reveal any evidence of preimpact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot had topped off the airplane's fuel tanks before departing on the 1-hour flight; the airplane had a fuel endurance of 4.2 hours when the tanks were full. Although the fuel quantity was not measured after the accident, the airplane likely had at least 3 hours of fuel remaining at the time of the accident. The pilot stated that fuel samples drained from each wing fuel tank during his preflight inspection were consistent with 100 low-lead aviation fuel and were not contaminated with water or debris. Additionally, postaccident testing of the fuel source used to refuel the airplane before the flight did not reveal any evidence of water or debris. The weather conditions at the time of the accident were conducive to the formation of carburetor icing at glide and cruise power settings. Based on the available information, it is likely that the engine initially lost power after developing carburetor ice and that the application of carburetor heat was ineffective and possibly exacerbated the problem by introducing less-dense hot air, which likely led to a further drop in rpm. Additionally, the pilot's delay in applying carburetor heat until after the engine began running roughly likely resulted in insufficient exhaust gas temperature to produce hot air in the exhaust muffler, which rendered the use of carburetor heat ineffective at melting the accumulated ice.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.