Schafer STARDUSTER SA-300 N105NL

Summary

On 28 February 2010 at about 22:30 local time, a Schafer STARDUSTER SA-300 registered N105NL, operated by Schafer Paul B, was involved in an accident near North Bend, Oregon, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 February 2010 at 22:30

Classification

Accident

Location

North Bend, Oregon, United States

Coordinates

43.3656, -123.8281

Aircraft

Schafer STARDUSTER SA-300

Registration

N105NL

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Schafer Paul B

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Roseburg → North Bend

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR10LA149

1 person had minor injuries.

The complete loss of engine power during cruise for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After being airborne for about 10 minutes, the pilot applied full carburetor heat as he entered an area that he felt had high humidity. About five minutes later the airplane's engine, a 220 horsepower Continental W670 radial, began to lose power. Although the pilot managed to keep it at cruise power for a short period of time by pumping the throttle, the engine then slowly lost all power. The pilot was forced to execute an emergency landing in a rough log-covered clear-cut in the forest. Upon touchdown, the airplane cartwheeled and came to a stop within about 100 feet. A post-accident inspection of the airplane's fuel system, ignition system, and air induction system did not reveal any evidence of a malfunction or anomaly that would have kept the engine from producing cruise power. The airplane had about 28 gallons of fuel in its tank at takeoff, and the pilot said that he had flown the airplane many times in the high humidity conditions found near the ocean, and that with the full application of carburetor heat; the airplane's carburetor had never accumulated ice in its throat. The reported temperature and dewpoint (14 and 7 degrees C respectively), when plotted on a carburetor icing probability chart, fell in the area annotated "Moderate Icing Cruise Power or Serious Icing Descent Power".

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.