ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 190430
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| Date: | Saturday 1 October 2016 |
| Time: | 13:10 |
| Type: |  Culver PQ-14A |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N4648V |
| MSN: | N2432 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1944 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 744 hours |
| Engine model: | Franklin 6A4150 B3 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Catawba County, west Hickory, NC -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Hickory, NC (HKY) |
| Hickory, NC (HKY) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The commercial pilot, who owned the airplane, was making a local personal flight from his home airport. During taxi for takeoff, the airplane experienced a total loss of engine power. The pilot/owner reported to a controller in the airport's air traffic control tower that he did not know why the engine stopped but that he got it restarted. The airplane subsequently departed. Minutes after departure, the pilot reported "engine problems" to the controller, asked to return, and was cleared to land on any runway. The airplane reversed course and witnesses near the accident site reported hearing the engine sputter and then stop. The airplane struck trees about 1 mile from the extended runway centerline as the pilot was attempting to reach the airport.
Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of preimpact mechanical anomalies that would have prevented normal engine operation. The fuel drained from the airplane presented the color and odor of automobile gasoline, and the pilot was seen refueling his airplane from cans transported in his car. Further, the pilot had not serviced his airplane with aviation gasoline at his home airport.
Atmospheric conditions were conducive to serious icing at descent power and moderate icing at cruise power. The airplane's loss of power when the power setting was low while taxiing and its loss of power when the power was reduced to cruise power after takeoff were both likely due to carburetor icing. A search of the airplane's maintenance records revealed no supplemental type certificate that authorized the use of automobile gasoline in the airplane, and the likelihood of carburetor icing is increased when automobile gasoline is used. While the airplane was equipped with carburetor heat, impact-related damage to the engine controls precluded an assessment of the control's preimpact position.
Probable Cause: The loss of engine power due to carburetor icing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's use of automobile gasoline, which increased the likelihood of carburetor icing.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
FAA register: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=4648V
Location
Images:
Photo: NTSB
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 01-Oct-2016 20:18 | Geno | Added |
| 01-Oct-2016 20:23 | Geno | Updated [Date, Total fatalities, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
| 02-Oct-2016 17:00 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Nature, Source, Embed code, Damage, Narrative] |
| 02-Oct-2016 17:13 | Aerossurance | Updated [Phase, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 22-Apr-2018 19:30 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 22-Apr-2018 19:56 | harro | Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative, Photo, ] |
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