Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Atlantic Ocean
Saturday, June 24, 2000 8:15 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, on the day before the accident, the airplane was fueled with 10 gallons of fuel. He stated that this gave the airplane a total of 25 gallons prior to departing the Grand Bahamas. After takeoff, the pilot climbed to a cruise altitude of 6500 feet. Approximately 42 nautical miles off Freeport, he began an initial descent to 4,500 feet, then 3,500 feet. When the pilot applied throttle following the descent, there was no engine response. The engine remained at idle and the pilot ditched the airplane near a commercial boat. All four occupants were rescued without injuries. The airplane was not recovered, and therefore the engine was not examined. Weather conditions were favorable for the formation of carburetor ice, and carburetor heat was not used during the descent.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. A factor was the pilot failed to use carburetor heat during the descent.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/24/2000
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 815
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City ATLANTIC OCEAN
Event State ATLANTIC OCEAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 00000
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 6
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 Off Airport/Airstrip
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 912 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 270
Weather Observation Facility ID FLL
Elevation of weather observation facility 11
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 35
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 2600
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 120
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 1402
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 4
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 229
NTSB Notification Source FAA COMM CTNR ATLANTA
NTSB Notification Date Jun 24 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 930
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Mar 4 2001 7:06AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N738WD
NTSB Number ATL00LA066
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 172N
Aircraft Series Identifier 172N
Aircraft Serial Number 17270287
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 May 12 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 40
Airframe Hours 9851
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name PETER V. SKOBIN
Aircraft Owner Street Address 240 SW 30TH ST. STE 5
Aircraft Owner City FORT LAUDERDALE
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33315
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 Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code MYGF
Departure City BAHAMAS
Departure State OF
Departure Country
Departure Time 720
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code FXE
Destination City FT LAUDERDALE
Destination State FL
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 4 2001 7:06AM
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 --