Piper PA18 N7384D

Summary

On 29 February 2020 at about 01:40 local time, a Piper PA18 registered N7384D was involved in an accident near Big Lake, Alaska, 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

29 February 2020 at 01:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Big Lake, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Big Lake (BGQ)

Coordinates

61.5347, -149.7989

Aircraft

Piper PA18

Registration

N7384D

Category

Airplane

Year built

1957

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Palmer → Big Lake

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC20CA030

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to use carburetor heat in conditions conducive to carburetor icing, which resulted in a partial loss of engine power, a precautionary landing, and impact with snow.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, while performing touch-and-go landings, he applied carburetor heat during the second landing. During takeoff after the second landing, he turned the carburetor heat off and applied full power. Once airborne, the airplane began to lose power, and he manipulated the throttle and carburetor heat levers, but engine power was not restored. He chose to make a precautionary landing straight-ahead on the runway with partial engine power. During the landing, the airplane departed the end of the runway, impacted snow, and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right-wing lift strut and empennage. A postaccident engine examination and test run revealed no preaccident malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The exact probability of carburetor icing could not be calculated for the accident airport because the closest weather observation station was 8 miles away. However, the pilot stated that, while landing, there were about 3 inches of fresh snow on the runway and that he believed that propeller wash likely introduced snow into the intake, which created carburetor ice. He added that he should have left the carburetor heat on longer after the second landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.