ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 280435
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| Date: | Saturday 16 July 2022 |
| Time: | 06:35 |
| Type: | Thatcher CX-4 |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N347CX |
| MSN: | 001 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2013 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 269 hours |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Skypark Estates Owners Assoc Airport (18FD), Baker, FL -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Skypark Estates Owners Assoc Airport, FL (18FD) |
| Skypark Estates Owners Assoc Airport, FL (18FD) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On July 16, 2022, about 0635 central daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Thatcher CX4, N347CX, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Baker, Florida. The pilot sustained serious injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
The pilot reported that he had just completed an overhaul of the automotive conversion engine that was installed in the experimental amateur-built airplane. Before the day of the accident, the pilot conducted several engine ground runs. During most of the ground runs, the engine would not run smoothly when at the idle throttle setting; however, on the last ground run, the engine ran smoothly at idle. On the day of the accident, the pilot planned to break in the engine during a flight over the airport. After takeoff, while the airplane was climbing to traffic pattern altitude, the pilot felt something dripping onto his leg and decided to perform a precautionary landing. When he pulled the throttle back to idle to initiate a descent, the engine stopped producing power. Unable to restore power to the engine, he elected to execute a forced landing, during which the left wing impacted a tree. Although the pilot did not run the engine after the accident, his postaccident examination of the engine revealed no anomaly that would have precluded normal operation.
The atmospheric conditions at the time of the accident were conducive to carburetor icing at glide power; however, the airplane’s engine was at a climb power setting before the pilot reduced the throttle to idle to initiate the descent. Therefore, it is not likely that the loss of engine power was the result of carburetor ice. Since the pilot had just completed an overhaul of the engine and the engine would not run smoothly at idle during several engine ground runs, it is likely that the engine idle setting was misadjusted, which resulted in the engine losing power when the throttle was reduced to idle.
Probable Cause: The improper engine idle setting, which resulted in a total loss of engine power when the pilot reduced the throttle to idle to initiate a descent.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.nwfdailynews.com/story/news/2022/07/16/small-plane-crashes-near-baker-while-attempting-land/10076846002/
https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=105528
Location
Images:
Photo: NTSB
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 16-Jul-2022 14:48 | Geno | Added |
| 18-Jul-2022 23:51 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Phase, Nature, Source, Narrative] |
| 19-Jul-2022 05:24 | AgOps | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Nature, Source, Category] |
| 26-Jul-2022 22:02 | Captain Adam | Updated [Time, Cn, Source, Narrative] |
| 15-Dec-2023 15:33 | Captain Adam | Updated [Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Accident report, Photo] |
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