Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Cooperstown-Westville Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cooperstown, New York 13326
Wednesday, April 7, 2010 16:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The certified flight instructor (CFI) stated that he was demonstrating to the student a simulated loss of engine power and landing to the airport. He began by reducing power then applying carburetor heat. He maneuvered the airplane in a descending right turn and cleared the engine (verifying full engine power was available) at least one time during the descent. He approached the runway and lowered 10 degrees of flaps while on a short base leg of the traffic pattern. The approach appeared normal to slightly high, and on short final (about 100 feet above touchdown zone elevation), the flight encountered a very strong and turbulent gust that necessitated immediate full power. He applied power and the engine hesitated or stumbled. He removed carburetor heat application and pushed forward on the throttle and mixture controls. Thereafter, he pumped the throttle control in an effort to restore engine power which was unsuccessful. He maneuvered the airplane to a clear space and landed in a wooded area. Inspection of the engine by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness inspector following recovery of the airplane revealed no evidence of preimpact mechanical failure or malfunction. A surface observation weather report approximately 17 minutes before the accident, indicated the temperature and dew point were 18 and 13 degrees Celsius respectively, (64 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit). According to a FAA Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) CE-09-35, dated June 30, 2009, the temperature and dew point were favorable for serious icing at glide power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A partial loss of engine power during a simulated engine-out demonstration due to carburetor icing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/7/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1610 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cooperstown |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 13326 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 423733N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0745326W |
| Event Location Airport | Cooperstown-Westville Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | K23 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1260 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 328 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RME |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 504 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 43 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 8000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.701 |
| 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) | 27600 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Albany FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2010 7:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kelz |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4760X |
| NTSB Number | ERA10CA220 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 150G |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15064810 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | Oct 20 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 6272 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Gary Pressler |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Unadilla |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 13849 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Gary Pressler |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Unadilla |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 13849 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | N23 |
| Departure City | Sidney |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1545 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | K23 |
| Destination City | Cooperstown |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 28 2011 2:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 02 |
| Runway Length | 2337 |
| Runway Width | 125 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |