Piper PA28 N8758N

Summary

On 18 November 2017 at about 16:10 local time, a Piper PA28 registered N8758N was involved in an accident near Bladenboro, North Carolina, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 November 2017 at 16:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Bladenboro, North Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Bladenboro (3W6)

Coordinates

34.5492, -78.7767

Aircraft

Piper PA28

Registration

N8758N

Category

Airplane

Year built

1969

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bladenboro → Bladenboro

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA18LA026

Nobody was injured.

A loss of engine power due to carburetor icing and the presence of an insect nest in the carburetor heat control box that prevented the pilot’s application of carburetor heat from restoring engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot stated that, after a go-around, he was on the downwind leg of the airport traffic pattern when the engine lost partial power. He applied carburetor heat, but it did not restore full power to the engine. With the airplane unable to reach the runway, he performed an off-airport landing to a field, which resulted in substantial damage to the wing leading edges and engine mounts. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that there was an insect nest in the carburetor heat control box that prevented it from functioning properly. The examination revealed no evidence of other preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the engine that would have precluded normal operation. The weather conditions at the time of the accident were conducive to the formation of serious carburetor icing at glide engine power settings. It is likely that the initial loss of engine power was the result of an accumulation of ice in the carburetor that could not be removed by using carburetor heat due to the insect nest.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.