Cessna 150D N4375U

Summary

On 25 August 2021 at about 16:45 local time, a Cessna 150D registered N4375U was involved in an accident near Chino, California, 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

25 August 2021 at 16:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Chino, California, United States

Nearest airport

Chino (CNO)

Coordinates

33.9944, -117.5900

Aircraft

Cessna 150D

Registration

N4375U

Category

Airplane

Year built

1964

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Chino → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR21LA329

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot’s delayed use of carburetor heat, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to carburetor icing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot flew in the local area for about 2 hours 45 minutes and then began to return to the departure airport. While the airplane was descending to 2,500 ft mean sea level, the engine surged, prompting the pilot to use carburetor heat. After a brief period of normal engine operation, the engine surging resumed, resulting in a partial power loss as the airplane approached the airport. Despite the pilot’s attempts to troubleshoot the issue, the airplane was unable to maintain altitude. The pilot performed an off-airport landing, during which the airplane collided with a fence. During the recovery of the airplane, about 3.5 to 4 gallons of fuel from the left wing and about 0.5 gallons of fuel from the right wing were drained, and both the carburetor bowl and gascolator contained fuel. The fuel tanks in the wing were intact, but fuel was dripping from the left fuel vent due to the angle at which the airplane came to rest (left wing down). Because fuel was dripping from the vent, the investigation could not determine if the airplane had a sufficient amount of fuel aboard at the time of the engine failure; the amount of fuel found in the tanks did not represent the amount of fuel aboard before impact. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Carburetor Icing Probability Chart revealed that the outside air temperature and dew point temperature were within the "serious icing at glide power" portion of the chart, and the pilot reported haze in the area. An FAA Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin emphasized the risk of carburetor icing, even in above-freezing conditions with visible moisture, due to fuel vaporization and air expansion. Thus, it is likely that carburetor icing during the accident flight resulted in the loss of engine power, which might have been mitigated if the pilot had applied carburetor heat earlier in the descent.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.