Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Palm Beach, Florida 33406
Saturday, September 18, 2010 12:15 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While flying at an altitude of 1,200 feet, about 3/4-mile offshore, the pilot reported that the airplane's engine started to "sputter" before losing power. He verified the fuel selector and mixture settings and reported that the engine did not respond to his throttle control inputs. He could not recall if he had applied carburetor heat. He subsequently executed a forced landing to an unpopulated area of the beach, during which the airplane sustained substantial damage. A postaccident test run of the engine revealed no evidence of any mechanical anomalies. According to the Federal Aviation Administration icing probability chart, the airplane was operating in conditions conducive to serious carburetor icing at glide power at the time of the accident. Without carburetor heat carburetor ice can form resulting in loss of power and possible engine roughness.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to use carburetor heat which led to a loss of engine power due to carburetor icing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/18/2010
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1215
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Palm Beach
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33406
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 264313N
Event Location Longitude 0800202W
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 Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1553 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 230
Weather Observation Facility ID PBI
Elevation of weather observation facility 19
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 5500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 3500
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) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 21
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 80
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 17
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.99
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 29006
NTSB Notification Source FAA South Florida FSDO
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 8 2011 3:54PM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2483Y
NTSB Number ERA10LA494
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 172D
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17249783
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jan 9 2010 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 23
Airframe Hours 3049
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name FROST GEORGE R
Aircraft Owner Street Address 915 MACY ST
Aircraft Owner City WEST PALM BEACH
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33405
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name FROST GEORGE R
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 915 MACY ST
Operator City WEST PALM BEACH
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 33405
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 LNA
Departure City Lantana
Departure State FL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code BCT
Destination City Boca Raton
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 3 2011 3:27PM
User who most recently changed record kenj
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 --