Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Gwinnett County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lawrenceville, Georgia 30245
Monday, November 14, 1988 20:45 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE CFI & STUDENT WERE PRACTICING TOUCH-&-GO LNDGS AT NIGHT WHEN THE ENG LOST PWR SHORTLY AFTER THE 5TH TOUCH-&-GO. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT WAS DMGD WHEN IT WAS LNDD IN TREES. DRG AN EXAM OF THE ENG, DARK, SOOTY DEPOSITS WERE FOUND ON ALL SPARK PLUGS. THE PLUGS WERE REINSTALLED & AN OPNL CHECK OF THE ENG WAS MADE. THE ENG STARTED ALMOST IMMEDIATELY & DEVELOPED PWR WHEN THE THROTTLE WAS OPENED. A FURTHER EXAM REVEALED THAT THE CARB HEAT DOOR ON THE CARB AIRBOX WOULD NOT MOVE TO THE FULL ON POSITION WHEN THE CARB HEAT CONTROL WAS ACTIVATED. THE AIRBOX HAD BEEN IMPROPERLY MODIFIED AND/OR REPAIRED. NO ENTRIES WERE FOUND IN THE ACFT LOGS CONCERNING THE AIRBOX. THE ACFT HAD FLOWN APRX 97 HRS SINCE THE PREVIOUS ANNUAL INSPN APRX 5 MOS BEFORE THE ACDNT. THE TEMP & DEW POINT WERE 61 & 45 DEG, RESPECTIVELY. ACCORDING TO ICING PROBABILITY CHARTS, CONDS WERE CONDUCIVE TO CARB ICE. THE CFI RPRTD THE CARB HEAT WAS USED PRIOR TO EACH LNDG.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
IMPROPER REPAIR AND/OR MODIFICATION OF THE CARBURETOR AIRBOX BY UNKNOWN PERSON(S), AND THE SUBSEQUENT FAILURE OF MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL TO DETECT THE IMPROPER REPAIR/MODIFICATION DURING ANNUAL INSPECTION(S), WHICH LED TO A LOSS OF POWER DUE TO CARBURETOR ICING. A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR WAS THE PRESENCE OF WEATHER CONDITIONS CONDUCIVE TO THE FORMATION OF CARBURETOR ICE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/14/1988 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2045 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | LAWRENCEVILLE |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30245 |
| Event Date Year | 1988 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | GWINNETT COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 17A |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 1036 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1850 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 97 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AHN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 807 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 32 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2266 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 14 1988 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2135 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 40078 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N96164 |
| NTSB Number | ATL89LA037 |
| 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 | R172E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | R172E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | R172-0081 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | Jun 14 1988 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 97 |
| Airframe Hours | 8249 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CIVIL AIR PATROL, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS |
| Aircraft Owner City | MAXWELL AFB |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 36112 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | WING HQ CAP |
| Operator City | DOBBINS AFB |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 300605000 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PDK |
| Departure City | ATLANTA |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1945 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25 |
| Runway Length | 4000 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |