Cessna 182 N1685R

Summary

On 1 August 2015 at about 22:45 local time, a Cessna 182 registered N1685R was involved in an accident near Watertown, Wisconsin, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

1 August 2015 at 22:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Watertown, Wisconsin, United States

Nearest airport

Watertown Municipal (KRYV)

Coordinates

43.1658, -88.7194

Aircraft

Cessna 182

Registration

N1685R

Category

Airplane

Year built

1978

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Watertown → Watertown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN15LA333

1 person was seriously injured.

The total loss of engine power due to carburetor icing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot was planning to conduct some practice takeoffs and landings. The pilot reported that he conducted a normal preflight and that the airplane had about 75 gallons of fuel on board. Shortly after takeoff and while on the base leg to the runway, the engine lost power. The pilot pushed the throttle, mixture, and prop levers full forward and then turned the auxiliary fuel pump on, but the engine did not respond. The airplane subsequently impacted trees near a residence and then came to rest on its right side. On-scene examination revealed that the left wing's fuel bladder tank appeared intact but that it was absent of fuel and that the right wing's bladder tank was torn and contained about 2 gallons of fuel. However, the examination was unable to determine the quantity of fuel that may have leaked out after the fuel system was compromised during the accident. An engine test run was conducted, and the engine started and ran with no abnormalities noted. A review of the carburetor icing probability chart indicated that the airplane was operating in weather conditions associated with a serious risk of carburetor ice accumulation at glide power settings. The pilot was on the base leg of the traffic pattern, and he likely reduced engine power to a glide power setting because he was approaching the runway for landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.