Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

North Bend, Oregon 97459
Sunday, February 28, 2010 14:30 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

After being airborne for about 10 minutes, the pilot applied full carburetor heat as he entered an area that he felt had high humidity. About five minutes later the airplane's engine, a 220 horsepower Continental W670 radial, began to lose power. Although the pilot managed to keep it at cruise power for a short period of time by pumping the throttle, the engine then slowly lost all power. The pilot was forced to execute an emergency landing in a rough log-covered clear-cut in the forest. Upon touchdown, the airplane cartwheeled and came to a stop within about 100 feet. A post-accident inspection of the airplane's fuel system, ignition system, and air induction system did not reveal any evidence of a malfunction or anomaly that would have kept the engine from producing cruise power. The airplane had about 28 gallons of fuel in its tank at takeoff, and the pilot said that he had flown the airplane many times in the high humidity conditions found near the ocean, and that with the full application of carburetor heat; the airplane's carburetor had never accumulated ice in its throat. The reported temperature and dewpoint (14 and 7 degrees C respectively), when plotted on a carburetor icing probability chart, fell in the area annotated "Moderate Icing Cruise Power or Serious Icing Descent Power".

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The complete loss of engine power during cruise for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/28/2010
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1430
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City North Bend
Event State OREGON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 97459
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 432156N
Event Location Longitude 1234941W
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 2000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
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 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 26752
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 May 27 2010 5:05PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N105NL
NTSB Number WPR10LA149
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 SCHAFER
Aircraft Model STARDUSTER SA-300
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 685
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
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 Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Dec 30 2009 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 247
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type C126
Aircraft Owner Name SCHAFER PAUL B
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City SUTHERLIN
Aircraft Owner State OR
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 97479-9823
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name SCHAFER PAUL B
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City SUTHERLIN
Operator State OR
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 97479-9823
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 No
Departure Airport Code KRBG
Departure City Roseburg
Departure State OR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1410
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code KOTH
Destination City North Bend
Destination State OR
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 31 2010 4:10PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --