Moulton Howard Wells ULTRA-PUP N3073X

Summary

On 6 October 2012 at about 12:39 local time, a Moulton Howard Wells ULTRA-PUP registered N3073X was involved in an accident near Lyman, Maine, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 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 October 2012 at 12:39

Classification

Accident

Location

Lyman, Maine, United States

Coordinates

43.4972, -70.6364

Aircraft

Moulton Howard Wells ULTRA-PUP

Registration

N3073X

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Eliot → Wiscasset

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA13CA010

2 people had minor injuries.

The accumulation of ice in the automotive engine’s carburetor, which resulted in a loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

About 20 minutes into the cross-country flight, the pilot of the experimental amateur-built airplane detected a vibration of the airplane’s engine that “didn’t sound good,” and noticed a drop in the rpm of the automotive-conversion engine. He immediately applied carburetor heat, but the engine continued to lose power until the airplane could no longer maintain altitude and began to descend from its cruise altitude of 1,500 feet above ground level. The pilot performed a forced landing into the trees below, substantially damaging the airplane’s fuselage, wings, and empennage. Postaccident examination of the airplane, its engine, and its fuel system revealed no evidence of preimpact malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Although the fuel system was compromised by impact damage, the fuel that remained in the system was absent of contamination. According to a carburetor icing probability chart published by the Federal Aviation Administration, the temperature and dew point reported at an airport located about 6 nautical miles from the accident site were conducive to “serious icing at cruise power.”

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.