Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Grand Island, Nebraska 68801
Wednesday, July 18, 2001 11:05 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane had a loss of engine power and sustained substantial damaged during a forced landing to a cornfield. The student pilot initiated a descent from 6,500 feet msl about 10 miles from the destination airport. He reported he contacted the tower and, "Soon thereafter the engine sputtered and stopped." The student pilot attempted an engine air start but was unsuccessful. He reported he was unable to land at the airport. At 400 feet agl, he saw power lines running north and south so he turned north to avoid the power lines and landed cross row in a cornfield. During the landing roll, the airplane started to nose over and then "cart wheeled" and came to rest on its main landing gear. There were no preexisting anomalies to the airframe or engine. The engine was test run and it started without hesitation. The 1056 observed weather at GRI was: wind 130 degrees at 6 knots, sky clear, visibility 10 miles, temperature 29 degrees C, dew point 20 degrees C, altimeter 29.87. According to the Transport Canada "Carburetor Icing Graph", the existing weather conditions at GRI were in the region of "Serious icing - descent power." The FAA issued Advisory Circular (AC) 20-113, "Pilot Precautions and Procedures To Be Taken In Preventing Aircraft Reciprocating Engine Induction System and Fuel System Icing Problems." The AC stated, "...the pilot should regularly use heat under conditions known to be conducive to atmospheric icing..." in order to prevent accidents due to induction system icing. One of the procedures to reduce the likelihood of induction system icing stated, "Heat should be applied for a short time to warm the induction system before beginning a prolonged descent with the engine throttled and left on during the descent. Power lever advancement should be performed periodically during descent to assure that power recovery can be achieved. The pilot should be prepared to turn heat off after power is regained to resume level flight or initiate a go-around from an abandoned approach." The student pilot had a total of 41 hours of flight time.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The procedures for using carburetor heat not followed by the student pilot and the unsuitable terrain encountered during the forced landing. Additional factors included the carburetor icing conditions, the carburetor icing, the student pilot's lack of experience, and the crop.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/18/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1105 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Grand Island |
| Event State | NEBRASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 68801 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1056 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GRI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1846 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | -- |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12243 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 18 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1600 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 10 2002 8:12AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Lincoln FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1860Y |
| NTSB Number | CHI01LA219 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17249460 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2600 |
| 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 | Jul 12 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James A. Loach |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2514 S. 87th St. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Omaha |
| Aircraft Owner State | NE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LNK |
| Departure City | Lincoln |
| Departure State | NE |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1010 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | GRI |
| Destination City | Grand Island |
| Destination State | NE |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 26 2002 4:09PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |