Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Montrose, Colorado 81401
Wednesday, February 16, 2005 15:00 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While descending near a mountain canyon area, the engine lost partial power and the pilot initiated an emergency landing into an area of trees. The pilot stated that the engine had lost approximately seventy-five percent of its power and that he was too far into a canyon to reverse course. He then attempted an emergency landing into an area of trees, and subsequently, the airplane stalled and impacted the snow covered terrain. In addition, the pilot stated that "the aircraft did not have a lot of power to begin with and he has had icing problems in the past...he [believed] that icing is what caused his loss of power." According to the "Carburetor Icing Probability Chart," the atmospheric conditions at the time of the accident were conducive to "Serious Icing at Cruise Power." A review of the wreckage revealed the carburetor heat was found in the OFF position.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper in-flight planning during the descent which resulted in partial loss of engine power due to carburetor ice. Contributing factors were the pilot's failure to select carburetor heat during the descent and unsuitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/16/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Montrose |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81401 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 381559N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1081039W |
| 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 | 1508 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 40 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MTJ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5759 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.12 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18237 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 17 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1945 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2005 12:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Salt Lake City, Utah |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3985F |
| NTSB Number | DEN05LA058 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 36885 |
| 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 | Jan 31 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Scott P. Thurner |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 117 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Hotchkiss |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 81419 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | IFP |
| Departure City | Bullhead City |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MTJ |
| Destination City | Montrose |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 28 2005 11:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |