Piper PA-24-180 N7352P

Summary

On 28 April 2009 at about 23:00 local time, a Piper PA-24-180 registered N7352P, operated by Steven Lewis, was involved in an accident near Chugiak, Alaska, United States. 2 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

28 April 2009 at 23:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Chugiak, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Birchwood (BCV)

Coordinates

61.4161, -149.5083

Aircraft

Piper PA-24-180

Registration

N7352P

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Steven Lewis

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Anchorage → Chugiak

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC09LA036

Nobody was injured.

The flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the pilot during a simulated loss of engine power, and the pilot's failure to use carburetor heat while operating at a reduced engine power while in carburetor icing conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The certificated flight instructor (CFI) was administering a biennial flight review to the private pilot/airplane owner whose previous biennial review had expired. The CFI said that while in level flight at 1,600 feet msl, as the airplane approached the accident airport, he closed the engine throttle, and told the pilot that he was simulating an engine failure, then instructed the pilot to make an emergency descent and landing at the airport ahead. During the simulated emergency descent, the CFI momentarily advanced the engine throttle to ensure engine power was still available, and the engine appeared to respond accordingly. As the approach progressed, the pilot lowered the landing gear, and the airplane's descent rate increased significantly. The CFI instructed the pilot to go-around when he realized that the airplane was too low on the approach. The pilot immediately applied full engine throttle, but the engine did not respond, and he selected an area of grass-covered terrain as a forced landing site. During the forced landing the airplane struck a perimeter fence, and the nose and main landing gear collapsed. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and wings. An NTSB postaccident inspection disclosed no evidence any preimpact mechanical problems. An aviation weather reporting station indicated that the temperature was 54 degrees F, and the dew point was 32 degrees F. When these values are entered into a carburetor icing probability chart, the results are in the "Serious icing-glide power" category. Both pilots reported that carburetor heat was not used during the simulated emergency descent and approach. A pilot that landed about 15 minutes after the accident reported that while on approach, his airplane's engine developed carburetor ice, which required the use of carburetor heat. Given the lack of any mechanical anomalies it is likely that the formation of carburetor ice resulted in the loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.