Johnson ZODIAC CH601 N601J

Summary

On 1 April 2007 at about 02:05 local time, a Johnson ZODIAC CH601 registered N601J was involved in an accident near Arlington, Washington, 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

1 April 2007 at 02:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Arlington, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

Arlington Municipal

Coordinates

48.1903, -122.1911

Aircraft

Johnson ZODIAC CH601

Registration

N601J

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Arlington → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA07LA088

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to apply carburetor heat when the engine lost power while being operated at a reduced power setting. Factors include carburetor icing condition, the pilot's failure to acquire the temperature/dew point information, and soft terrain in the field where the aircraft touched down.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was in the process of aligning the aircraft to enter the downwind for landing when he decided that there were too many aircraft in the pattern and that he would maneuver to the west of the field until the number of aircraft practicing landings was reduced. As he turned away from the airport, he reduced his power to about 1,850 to 1,950 rpm (about 1,500 rpm below normal cruise), and then began to loiter to the west of the traffic pattern. Soon thereafter the aircraft's engine quit, and the pilot began looking for a place to make a forced landing. During the landing sequence, the pilot had to maneuver over some power lines, and just after he did so, the aircraft touched down on some soft terrain and flipped over onto its back. The pilot did not apply carburetor heat when the engine lost power, and because he had not listened to the Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS), he was unaware that at the time of the power loss there was only a one degree difference between the temperature and the dew point. According to the DOT/FAA/CT-82/44 Carburetor Icing Probability Chart, the pilot was operating in ambient conditions where serious carburetor icing could be expected at both glide and cruise power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.