Cessna 182 N3120S

Summary

On 23 December 2018 at about 22:10 local time, a Cessna 182 registered N3120S was involved in an accident near Norwood, Colorado, United States. One person was 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

23 December 2018 at 22:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Norwood, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Private Airstrip (None)

Coordinates

38.1658, -108.3058

Aircraft

Cessna 182

Registration

N3120S

Category

Airplane

Year built

1964

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Nucla → Nucla

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN19LA061

Nobody was injured.

The partial loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was conducting a personal flight. During the flight, he monitored the carburetor temperature gauge and used full, partial, and no carburetor heat settings as appropriate. While landing at his private, high-elevation airport, he initially had partial carburetor heat selected but then turned it off as he typically did to preclude ingestion of unfiltered air into the engine while landing on a dirt runway. During the approach, the airplane drifted left of the runway, so the pilot decided to go around. He advanced the engine power slightly, but the engine did not respond. He then advanced the engine power to full, but the engine still did not respond. The pilot then conducted a steep right turn and applied right rudder to land the airplane on the runway and avoid trees. He was not certain if the airplane stalled, but the right wingtip contacted the ground, and the airplane "pancaked" on the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and both wings.  After the accident, the pilot stated that he did not “adequately” clear the carburetor during the approach and that it was possible the carburetor had "iced up" during the descent. However, the temperature and dew point at the time of the accident put the airplane outside of conditions conducive for icing; therefore, it is unlikely that carburetor accumulated icing. Thus, the reason for the loss of engine power could not be determined based on the available evidence.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.