Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Topeka, Kansas 66616
Tuesady, November 25, 1997 1:03 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a cross-country flight, the Cessna 172's Continental O-300D engine began to run rough. The pilot applied carburetor heat which improved engine performance. After a second recurrence, he then made a precautionary landing to check the airplane and found nothing unusual. He decided to continue the flight using partial carburetor heat. He resumed the flight and, according to the surviving passenger, said he would continue with the 'carburetor heat on one-quarter way.' Shortly thereafter, the engine again began to run rough. The pilot was unable to correct for the condition and eventually the engine suffered a loss of all power. A forced landing was initiated under dark night conditions. During the final phase of the descent, the airplane impacted a transmission line and then terrain. Subsequent examination of the airplane, and a successful test run of the engine failed to reveal any mechanical anomalies other than those associated with the impact with the wire and the terrain. FAA Advisory Circular AC 20-113 dated October 22, 1981, states in part under the title 'In-flight Winter Weather Conditions,' and the sub title, 'Prevention Procedures'... 'When no carburetor air or mixture temperature instrumentation is available, the general practice with smaller engines should be to use full heat whenever carburetor heat is applied.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper use of carburetor heat. Contributing factors were carburetor icing conditions, dark night conditions, and the transmission wire.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/25/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 103 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | TOPEKA |
| Event State | KANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 66616 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Unknown |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 103 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 230 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TOP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 881 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1865 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 25 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 330 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5332T |
| NTSB Number | CHI98FA048 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17251232 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 20 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 47 |
| Airframe Hours | 3388 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LARRY J. DORMAN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 305 N PENN AVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | SALINA |
| Aircraft Owner State | KS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 67401 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LWC |
| Departure City | LAWRENCE |
| Departure State | KS |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 45 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SLN |
| Destination City | SALINA |
| Destination State | KS |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |