Accident Van's RV-9A N708JE,
ASN logo
ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 173372
 
This record has been locked for editing.

Date:Wednesday 28 January 2015
Time:11:00
Type:Silhouette image of generic RV9 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Van's RV-9A
Owner/operator:Private
Registration: N708JE
MSN: 91405
Year of manufacture:2008
Total airframe hrs:85 hours
Engine model:Lycoming O-320-D2B
Fatalities:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Category:Accident
Location:Lake Texoma near Alberta Creek Marina, Kingston, OK -   United States of America
Phase: Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:Private
Departure airport:Durant, OK (DUA)
Destination airport:Durant, OK (DUA)
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
The student pilot contacted a friend who was in a fishing boat and told him he was going to fly over the lake. The friend then saw the airplane circle over his fishing boat, which was a prearranged signal by the student pilot to notify the friend to drive his fishing boat towards a better fishing spot. The airplane was flying in a descending left turn and impacted the water and sank. The airplane was located the following day and was recovered to the shore. Although damage was sustained during the recovery phase, an examination of the airframe did not find any preimpact anomalies. The circumstances of the accident are consistent with an accelerated stall while the airplane maneuvering at low altitude.
An examination of the engine found that continuity to the engine controls was established with the exception of the carburetor heat gate cable. An examination of the carburetor heat gate cable did not find any deformation consistent with the set screw being installed properly at the time of the impact. A family member reported that the pilot previously had the carburetor heat repaired, but no logbook entry could be found to tell when and by whom the carburetor heat was repaired.
A review of the carburetor icing probability chart found that, at the time of the accident, the airplane operated in an area with the potential for serious icing at glide power. During the circling maneuver, it is likely that the pilot was operating the airplane a reduced power setting, which resulted in the formation of carburetor icing and led to a loss of engine power. However, once power was lost, the pilot continued in a bank turn, which resulted in the accelerated stall, rather than maintaining level flight.

Probable Cause: The pilot’s continuation of a banked turn following the loss of engine power, which resulted in his failure to maintain adequate airspeed and the airplane exceeding its critical angle of attack and entering an accelerated stall at low altitude. Contributing to the accident was the loss of engine power due to carburetor icing as a result of the airplane's degraded carburetor heat system.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: CEN15FA127
Status: Investigation completed
Duration:
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB
FAA register: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=708JE

FAA register: * http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=1479R

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
28-Jan-2015 19:47 Geno Added
29-Jan-2015 14:54 barbarossa Updated [Aircraft type]
29-Jan-2015 17:00 Geno Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Phase, Source]
29-Jan-2015 18:41 Geno Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Phase, Source]
30-Jan-2015 04:09 Geno Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Source, Damage, Narrative]
06-Feb-2015 18:31 Geno Updated [Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
21-Dec-2016 19:28 ASN Update Bot Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency]
01-Dec-2017 11:49 ASN Update Bot Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]

The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:

CONNECT WITH US: FSF on social media FSF Facebook FSF Twitter FSF Youtube FSF LinkedIn FSF Instagram

©2024 Flight Safety Foundation

1920 Ballenger Av, 4th Fl.
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
www.FlightSafety.org