Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ruston, Louisiana 71270
Wednesday, February 7, 2001 15:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight instructor and the student pilot were practicing power-off stalls in the local practice area. In preparation for a power-off stall maneuver, the student pilot performed "the flow checklist (fuel valve on both, mixture rich), and had reduced power in order to slow [the] speed." Shortly after this procedure, the engine lost power. The engine failed to restart, and the flight instructor executed a forced landing to a field, and the airplane impacted a fence. During a post-incident engine run, the engine repeatedly lost total power after the throttle was reduced to idle. The engine manufacturer representative adjusted the mixture control wheel, located on the fuel injector unit, "eight turns toward the lean setting." The engine was restarted, and when the throttle was reduced to the idle position, the engine continued to run. Inspection of the operator's fleet revealed that the idle mixture controls of several other airplanes of the same make and model were also out of adjustment.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the loss of engine power while manuevering as a result of an incorrect mixture control adjustment. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the ensuing forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 2/7/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Ruston |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 71270 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | N/A |
| 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 | 1450 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MLU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 79 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4600 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.08 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KMLU AUTO 072050Z 16010KT 10SM SCT046 22/11 A3008 |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10244 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 7 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2109 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2001 11:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N980SP |
| NTSB Number | FTW01IA062 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 172S8182 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2558 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 20 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 90 |
| Airframe Hours | 341 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Louisiana Technical University |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1004 Sybil Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ruston |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 71270 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | RSN |
| Departure City | Ruston |
| Departure State | LA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 2 2001 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MORJU |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |