Piper PA-28-180 N7230W

Summary

On 27 December 2009 at about 21:30 local time, a Piper PA-28-180 registered N7230W, operated by Jack Bradley McCullough, was involved in an accident near Alexandria, Louisiana, United States. 3 people were 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

27 December 2009 at 21:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Alexandria, Louisiana, United States

Nearest airport

Alexandria (AEX)

Coordinates

31.3231, -92.5422

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-180

Registration

N7230W

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Jack Bradley McCullough

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Essler → Alexandria

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN10LA080

Nobody was injured.

A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot completed the pre-landing checklist on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern in his single-engine airplane, which included switching the fuel selector to the fullest (right wing) tank, turning the fuel pump switch on, and making sure the mixture control was at the full rich position. The pilot did not use carburetor heat since the checklist said to only apply it "as necessary" and there was no indication of carburetor icing. As the airplane turned on to the base leg, the engine stopped producing power and the pilot made a forced landing to a plowed field. During the landing the airplane nosed over. The engine was later test run on the airplane using fuel from the right wing tank. The engine started immediately and ran smoothly. No anomalies were noted except that when carburetor heat was applied a drop followed by a rise in rpm was noted, which is consistent with ice buildup in the carburetor. Despite the possible presence of ice during the test run, a review of the Carburetor Icing Probability Chart revealed that the conditions at the time of the accident were not conducive to light, moderate, or serious icing conditions and the cause of the power loss could not be determined.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.