Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Johannesburg, Michigan 49751
Saturday, June 28, 2008 12:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane received substantial damage during a forced landing to a rough field following a loss of engine power during cruise flight. During the landing, the airplane's nose landing gear separated, and the airplane nosed over. The pilot reported that two hours into the cross country flight the engine stumbled and lost power. He stated that he performed emergency procedures which included cycling the carburetor heat control, selecting full rich on the mixture control, checking the fuel selector valve, and cycling the magneto ignition. He stated that the only response to these inputs was erratic firing on one magneto and no response when the other magneto was selected. He stated that he selected a fallow farm field and executed a forced landing. The reported temperature and dew point at the destination airport, about 20 miles north of the accident site, were 21 and 16 degrees Celsius, respectively. According to a carburetor icing probability chart, this temperature and dew point were within the range of susceptibility for moderate icing during cruise power.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to recognize the onset of carburetor icing resulting in a loss of engine power and the unsuitable terrain encountered during the forced landing. Contributing to the accident were the carburetor icing conditions, and the rough terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/28/2008
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1230
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Johannesburg
Event State MICHIGAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 49751
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 450055N
Event Location Longitude 0842308W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport --
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID PLN
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 2600
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 18
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.58
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 Docket Number (internal use) 24165
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 4 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Aug 28 2008 3:01PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Grand Rapids, Michigan

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7886F
NTSB Number CHI08CA194
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
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 150F
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15063986
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 5665
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Ronald O. Holcomb
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Birmingham
Aircraft Owner State MI
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? Yes
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code VLL
Departure City Troy
Departure State MI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1030
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code PLN
Destination City PELLSTON
Destination State MI
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 22 2008 12:43PM
User who most recently changed record DINC
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --