Cessna 150 N7UT

Summary

On 10 January 2024 at about 14:15 local time, a Cessna 150 registered N7UT, operated by Volunteer Aviation Foundation Inc, was involved in an accident near Hohenwald, Tennessee, 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

10 January 2024 at 14:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Hohenwald, Tennessee, United States

Nearest airport

Paul Bridges Fld (0M3)

Coordinates

35.0000, -87.0000

Aircraft

Cessna 150

Registration

N7UT

Category

Airplane

Year built

1974

Engines

1

Operator

Volunteer Aviation Foundation Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tullahoma → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA24LA087

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to use carburetor heat in conditions conducive to the formation of carburetor ice, which resulted in a partial loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. Contributing to the outcome was her failure to attain a proper touchdown point during the subsequent diversionary landing, which resulted in a runway excursion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot was on a solo cross-country flight when the accident occurred. She noticed no irregularities during the preflight inspection, engine run-up, or climb out. About 80 nautical miles (nm) into the flight, while operating at 2,500 ft mean sea level, the engine began to run rough. The pilot moved the throttle and mixture to full, but the engine continued to progressively operate rougher with a subsequent decrease in engine rpm. Unable to maintain altitude, the pilot diverted to the nearest airport. While on final approach, the airplane was high and fast, and she did not believe there was enough altitude to complete a 180° turn to bleed off airspeed, so she continued the approach. The airplane landed long down the runway, exited the paved surface, and collided with a fence resulting in substantial damage to the wings and elevator. Postaccident examination and a test run of the engine did not reveal evidence of any preexisting anomalies or failures that would have prevented normal operation. The recorded temperature and dew point near the accident site were conducive to “serious icing” at cruise engine power settings. The pilot described the troubleshooting tasks she performed while trying to diagnose the reason for the loss of engine power, but did not report using carburetor heat. Based on this information, carburetor ice likely formed during the cruise portion of the flight, which resulted in a partial loss of engine power and a forced landing. During the approach, the pilot was high, fast, and landed long resulting in a runway excursion.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.