Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gonvick, Minnesota 56644
Thursday, August 27, 2009 19:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, he intended to fly the float-equipped airplane for approximately one hour to practice for his airplane sea rating. During the flight, the engine lost 100 revolutions per minute (RPMs) on four or five different occasions. At 1,000 feet above ground level, the engine sputtered and lost power. The pilot executed a forced landing to a field. During the landing, the airplane impacted terrain and nosed over. Examination of the airplane revealed the fuselage was buckled. A postaccident inspection and test run of the engine failed to reveal any mechanical anomalies. The nearest weather reporting facility, located 10 nautical miles southwest of the accident site, recorded a temperature of 22 degrees Celsius (C) and a dew point of 18 degrees C at the time of the accident. Review of the carburetor ice probability chart revealed that the temperature and dew point were conducive to serious icing conditions at glide power. The airplane was equipped with carburetor heat, but the pilot stated that he did not use it. The pilot reported a total of 1,859 flight hours and 12 flight hours in the accident airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to carburetor icing as a result of the pilot's failure to use carburetor heat.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/27/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1930 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Gonvick |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 56644 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 475100N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0953137W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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) | 26117 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2009 10:23AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2409M |
| NTSB Number | CEN09CA560 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-12 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 12-1526 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1838 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| 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 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3508 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Michael Johnson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Gonvick |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 56644 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Michael Johnson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Gonvick |
| Operator State | MN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 56644 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Gonvick |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1850 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Gonvick |
| Destination State | MN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2009 10:23AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| 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 | -- |