Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

San Luis Obispo, California 93401
Thursday, February 3, 2011 9:45 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane was in cruise flight at 3,500 feet mean sea level when the engine lost power. The pilot restarted the engine, and it ran for about 20 seconds before again losing power. He applied carburetor heat, but the cycle of losing power and restarting for a few seconds occurred several times. The pilot attempted to land in a field, but collided with trees at the edge of the field. There was no evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunction found during a postaccident examination of the airframe and engine. The meteorological conditions at the time of the accident were conductive to serious carburetor icing at cruise power. Although the pilot applied carburetor heat after the initial power loss, the engine likely did not run long enough to melt the ice and restore power.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot’s delay in using carburetor heat, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to an encounter with carburetor icing conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/3/2011
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 945
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City San Luis Obispo
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93401
Event Date Year 2011
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 351846N
Event Location Longitude 1204030W
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 956 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 150
Weather Observation Facility ID KSBP
Elevation of weather observation facility 212
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 4
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
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) 9
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.48
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 29754
NTSB Notification Source FAA AWP 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 Apr 25 2012 8:47PM
User who most recently changed record snyg
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N47503
NTSB Number WPR11FA120
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 AERONCA
Aircraft Model O-58C
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 43-8212
Certified Max Gross Weight 1260
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 Apr 30 2010 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 910
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Jeffrey B Wells
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Newport Beach
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92663
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Jeffrey B Wells
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Newport Beach
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 92663
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 --
Departure City Paso Robles
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 920
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Oceano
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 29 2012 5:19PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --