Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Frankston, Texas 75763
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 12:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was returning from a cross-country flight. The airplane was overdue, and a search was initiated. The airplane was located in a lake short of the pilot’s destination airport. There were no reported witnesses to the accident. The airplane’s canopy was found locked in the open position, the pilot’s seat belts were unlatched, the fuel shut-off valves and ignition switch were in the “OFF” position, and the battery and avionics switches were also in the off position. The throttle was found full open, the mixture control was full rich, and the carburetor heat was in the cold position. The airplane was recovered, and the engine was test run. The engine started and ran; no preimpact abnormalities with the airplane or engine were found. The medical examiner noted the pilot’s cause of death as "drowning, hypothermia, and minor blunt force injuries.” The weather in the area was clear with light wind; however, the temperature and dew point indicated that the airplane was operating in an area that was associated with a serious risk of carburetor ice accumulation at cruise power settings. Based on the location of the destination airport, weather, and the airplane’s condition and location, it is likely that the pilot had not applied carburetor heat, and the airplane experienced a loss of engine power due to carburetor ice. The pilot then had to ditch the airplane in the lake. The loss of engine power was likely due to carburetor ice.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to carburetor ice, which resulted in the pilot ditching the airplane into the lake. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s decision not to apply carburetor heat.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/8/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1200 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Frankston |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 75763 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 320439N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0952613W |
| 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 | 1135 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KJSO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.44 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 30776 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 26 2013 9:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8293J |
| NTSB Number | CEN12FA152 |
| 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 | VARGA AIRCRAFT CORP. |
| Aircraft Model | 2150A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | VAC-139-79 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | May 23 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1831 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Scholz, Fred |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Scholz, Fred |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Frankston |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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 | JSO |
| Departure City | Jacksonville |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | T25 |
| Destination City | Frankston |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 14 2012 1:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | hatc |
| 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 | -- |