Cessna 150L N16071

Summary

On 12 July 2023 at about 17:35 local time, a Cessna 150L registered N16071 was involved in an accident near Elberton, Georgia, 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

12 July 2023 at 17:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Elberton, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Elbert County Airport-Patz Fie (EBA)

Coordinates

34.0936, -82.8007

Aircraft

Cessna 150L

Registration

N16071

Category

Airplane

Year built

1972

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Elberton → Liberty

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA23LA297

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot’s decision to take off with a known engine issue, which resulted in a partial loss of power on the initial climb due to the No. 1 cylinder’s exhaust valve becoming stuck. Contributing to the outcome, was the pilot’s delay in aborting the takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that while taxiing before the flight, the engine had “skipped,” but normal power was regained during the run-up, so he decided to take off. The pilot reported that during the initial climb, the engine sustained a partial loss of power. He reported that, after the partial loss of power, he became fixated on the throttle and mixture and keeping the wings level. Subsequently, he realized he had traveled too far down the runway to abort the takeoff. He reduced the pitch attitude, navigated towards an open grassy area between trees, and lowered flaps to 40°. During the touchdown, the left wing abruptly dropped and impacted the ground and the airplane nosed over during the roll out. The fuselage, wings, and empennage sustained substantial damage. Multiple witnesses described that during the taxi and takeoff, the engine was running rough and skipping, and that the airplane struggled to gain altitude. Airport surveillance video captured most of the takeoff and initial climb. The video was consistent with the witness reports that the airplane struggled to climb throughout the entirety of the takeoff and initial climb, before disappearing out of view. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed that the No. 1 cylinder exhaust valve was stuck. There were no other anomalies observed with the airplane or engine. The pilot reported that in the few days preceding the accident, he had experienced multiple partial losses of engine power. He changed the spark plugs the day before the accident and the accident flight was the first flight after that maintenance. It is likely that the repeated engine skipping and partial losses of power the pilot experienced were evidence of a sticking valve, which ultimately became stuck during the accident flight. Had the pilot decided to allow a mechanic to examine the repeated engine issues more thoroughly, the stuck/sticking valve may have been properly diagnosed. Further contributing to the outcome was the pilot’s continuation of the takeoff roll and initial climb despite the opportunity to abort the takeoff and land on the remaining runway surface.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.