Cessna 180 N3186D

Summary

On 15 June 2020 at about 18:30 local time, a Cessna 180 registered N3186D was involved in an accident near Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. 3 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

15 June 2020 at 18:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Fairbanks, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Fairbanks Intl (FAI)

Coordinates

64.8294, -147.8294

Aircraft

Cessna 180

Registration

N3186D

Category

Airplane

Year built

1955

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Twin Lakes → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC20LA060

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to utilize carburetor heat while flying in conditions conducive carburetor to icing, which resulted in a total loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During landing, while at about 1,200 ft above ground level, the airplane’s engine lost all power. Subsequently, the airplane landed short of the lake on the land and came to rest nosed down. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. An FAA postaccident examination revealed that about 15.5 gallons of clean blue fuel was drained from the airplane, and that there was fuel in the firewall drain sump. It was noted that two small “pearls” of water were observed in the fuel collection cup. A picture supplied of the airplane after the accident showed that the carburetor heat was found not applied. The engine was test run and revealed no mechanical failure or malfunctions. The pilot reported that he did not recall if he had applied carburetor heat during the approach to land prior to the loss of engine power. The temperature and dew point were entered into a carburetor icing probability chart, which coincided with the "serious icing-glide power" category.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.