ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 149491
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Saturday 6 October 2012 |
| Time: | 08:39 |
| Type: | small aircraft |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N3073X |
| MSN: | 01 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 100 hours |
| Engine model: | Volkswagen VMW |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Lyman, Maine -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Eliot, ME (3B4) |
| Wiscasset, ME (IWI) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
About 20 minutes into the cross-country flight, the pilot of the experimental amateur-built airplane detected a vibration of the airplane’s engine that “didn’t sound good,” and noticed a drop in the rpm of the automotive-conversion engine. He immediately applied carburetor heat, but the engine continued to lose power until the airplane could no longer maintain altitude and began to descend from its cruise altitude of 1,500 feet above ground level. The pilot performed a forced landing into the trees below, substantially damaging the airplane’s fuselage, wings, and empennage. Postaccident examination of the airplane, its engine, and its fuel system revealed no evidence of preimpact malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Although the fuel system was compromised by impact damage, the fuel that remained in the system was absent of contamination. According to a carburetor icing probability chart published by the Federal Aviation Administration, the temperature and dew point reported at an airport located about 6 nautical miles from the accident site were conducive to “serious icing at cruise power.”
Probable Cause: The accumulation of ice in the automotive engine’s carburetor, which resulted in a loss of engine power.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 06-Oct-2012 12:08 | Alpine Flight | Added |
| 06-Oct-2012 13:36 | Anon. | Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport] |
| 28-Nov-2017 20:15 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation