Ganjoo Amit SONEX N212AG

Summary

On 22 April 2017 at about 13:15 local time, a Ganjoo Amit SONEX registered N212AG was involved in an accident near Leesburg, Virginia, United States. One person was 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

22 April 2017 at 13:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Leesburg, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Leesburg (JYO)

Coordinates

39.0683, -77.5525

Aircraft

Ganjoo Amit SONEX

Registration

N212AG

Category

Airplane

Year built

2017

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Leesburg → Martinsville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA17LA165

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to use carburetor heat appropriately, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to the formation of carburetor ice.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot checked the weather conditions before departure for the personal flight, and he noted that it was drizzling but that the cloud/ceilings were "good." Once airborne, the weather conditions began to deteriorate, and the pilot chose to return to the airport. The pilot added that, while the airplane was on final approach to land at 700 ft above ground level (agl), the engine "just stopped." The pilot attempted to restart the engine to no avail, and he subsequently initiated a forced landing just short of the runway. The pilot said that the airplane "ran out of airspeed" when it was about 100 ft agl and that it then landed hard and slid about 100 ft before coming to a stop. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Weather conditions reported at the time of the accident were conducive for serious icing at cruise power. The pilot acknowledged that the weather conditions were conducive to carburetor icing but that he did not apply carburetor heat until he tried to restart the engine, and even then, that he did not use full carburetor heat. Therefore, it is likely that carburetor ice accumulated during the flight, which resulted in a total loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.