Piel EMERAUDE C-FBZZ

Summary

On 6 July 2012 at about 22:35 local time, a Piel EMERAUDE registered C-FBZZ was involved in an accident near Banner Elk, North Carolina, 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

6 July 2012 at 22:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Banner Elk, North Carolina, United States

Coordinates

36.2261, -81.8572

Aircraft

Piel EMERAUDE

Registration

C-FBZZ

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Mountain City → Asheville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA12LA432

1 person had minor injuries.

The total loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined because the engine was not examined.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that during his preflight inspection of the airplane he determined that the fuel was not contaminated by water or debris. The pilot also checked the weather and determined that the formation of carburetor ice was unlikely. After taking off and flying along a river valley, the pilot turned the airplane to cross a mountain range. He added power to climb, and shortly thereafter, the engine lost power, and the pilot made a forced landing into trees. The pilot stated that he did not use carburetor heat during the flight, and, except for an instance in which the self-modulating pitch propeller moved to coarse pitch during a flight earlier that day, the pilot did not report any preexisting mechanical anomalies or unusual weather phenomena. The wreckage was not examined after the accident. Postaccident review of carburetor icing probability charts indicated a likelihood of carburetor ice formation while the airplane was in cruise flight along the river valley, which would likely have affected engine power during the attempted climb. However, because no follow-up examination was performed, it was not possible to determine why the engine lost power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.