Cessna 172-H N8282L

Summary

On 24 March 2015 at about 21:05 local time, a Cessna 172-H registered N8282L was involved in an accident near Circleville, Texas, 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

24 March 2015 at 21:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Circleville, Texas, United States

Coordinates

30.5731, -97.4197

Aircraft

Cessna 172-H

Registration

N8282L

Category

Airplane

Year built

1967

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Austin → Austin

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN15LA215

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the engine to regain normal power after a simulated engine failure due to carburetor icing, which resulted in a forced landing on muddy terrain and a subsequent nose-over.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor was conducting an instructional flight with a student pilot. The student reported that the preflight engine run-up was normal and that, before takeoff for the flight, there was a small wait because they were the fourth airplane in line for takeoff. At takeoff, the engine power was not normal, but leaning the mixture returned the engine performance to normal. After performing several flight maneuvers at 4,500 ft mean sea level (msl), the flight instructor simulated an engine failure by applying carburetor heat and retarding the throttle to idle. After descending the airplane to 2,500 ft msl, the flight instructor attempted to clear the engine and pushed the throttle control to full power, but the engine power was not restored. Subsequent attempts to restart the engine were unsuccessful, and the student then transferred the flight controls to the flight instructor, who then conducted a forced landing to muddy terrain, which resulted in the airplane nosing over. The weather conditions at the time of the accident were conductive to moderate carburetor icing at cruise power and serious carburetor icing at descent power. Given the delayed takeoff, during which the engine would have been at an idle power setting, and that the mixture needed to be leaned at higher engine power to return to normal, it is likely that carburetor icing had accumulated. Although the flight instructor applied carburetor heat for the simulated engine failure to prevent carburetor icing, there would have been reduced heat output by the engine at the idle power setting, which would not have been effective in preventing carburetor icing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.