Baton Rouge Metro Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70807
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 20:50 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot and certified flight instructor (CFI) were conducting a night, cross country flight. Weather conditions were conducive to carburetor icing at both cruise and descent power settings. When the airplane was about 7 miles from their first destination, the engine's performance began to decay. The CFI ignored the student pilot's suggestion to turn on the carburetor heat and elected to turn around and fly approximately 16 miles back to their departure airfield. The engine performance continued to decay, forcing the CFI to land in a field about four miles from the airport. During landing, the airplane flipped over on its back, resulting in substantial damage.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The partial loss of engine power due to the instructor pilot's failure to use carburetor heat while operating in conditions conducive to carburetor icing. Contributing to the accident was the instructor pilot's decision to attempt a return to the departure airport with degraded engine performance.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/20/2009
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 2050
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Baton Rouge
Event State LOUISIANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 70807
Event Date Year 2009
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Baton Rouge Metro Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID BTR
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 4
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 70
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2053 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID BTR
Elevation of weather observation facility 70
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 4
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height 8000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 50
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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 2
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 25865
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 27 2009 11:35PM
User who most recently changed record lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N17214
NTSB Number CEN09LA308
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 150L
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15073667
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 Dec 12 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 6995.5
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name BROCK EDSON G
Aircraft Owner Street Address 9814 REGENCY DR
Aircraft Owner City BATON ROUGE
Aircraft Owner State LA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 70815-4943
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name BROCK EDSON G
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 9814 REGENCY DR
Operator City BATON ROUGE
Operator State LA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 70815-4943
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code BTR
Departure City Baton Rouge
Departure State LA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code HZR
Destination City New Roads
Destination State LA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 7 2009 12:09PM
User who most recently changed record bakd
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --