Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rapid City, South Dakota 57701
Friday, February 24, 2012 13:15 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During an instrument instructional flight, the airplane encountered clouds as it climbed through about 4,500 feet mean sea level (msl) and subsequently experienced a partial loss of engine power as it climbed through about 6,500 feet msl in conditions that were conductive to serious carburetor icing conditions. The flight instructor turned on the carburetor heat at the onset of the power loss, which resulted in an additional loss of engine power and a rough-running engine. The flight instructor subsequently turned off the carburetor heat because the airplane was unable to maintain altitude to return to the departure airport. The engine then experienced a total loss of power, and the pilot performed a forced landing. No engine anomalies were noted during a postaccident engine run; however, the carburetor heat valve only moved about 3/4 of its travel, so maximum carburetor heat was not available.
The flight instructor stated that he and the pilot receiving instruction reviewed the weather conditions as part of their preflight planning and determined that the weather was satisfactory for the intended flight. The instructor further stated that the carburetor heat appeared to be functioning during the pretakeoff engine run-up. The weather conditions encountered during the climb in the clouds were conducive to serious carburetor icing at cruise climb power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power during climb due to carburetor icing. Contributing to the accident was the limited travel of the carburetor heat valve which prevented application of maximum carburetor heat.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/24/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1315 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Rapid City |
| Event State | SOUTH DAKOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 57701 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 440217N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1024934W |
| 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 | 1338 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 315 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RAP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3204 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 20 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 31 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.09 |
| 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) | 31419 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Rapid City FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2013 4:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N20GG |
| NTSB Number | CEN12LA175 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7916032 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2440 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 8 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 7984 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Individual |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Huron |
| Aircraft Owner State | SD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Skyways LTD |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Huron |
| Operator State | SD |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RAP |
| Departure City | Rapid City |
| Departure State | SD |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HON |
| Destination City | Huron |
| Destination State | SD |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 11 2013 5:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | galm |
| 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 | -- |