Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Belfast Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Belfast, Maine 04915
Tuesady, March 20, 2012 19:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilots, while in cruise flight at 6,500 feet mean sea level, the engine lost partial power. The flight instructor applied full rich mixture and carburetor heat. Maintaining partial engine power, the flight diverted to a nearby airport. The pilots were unable to activate the pilot-controlled lighting at the airport and elected to utilize the airport's rotating beacon to locate the runway. The runway was located; however, the airplane was not in a position to make a landing, and the flight instructor applied full power in order to perform a go-around. During the go-around the engine experienced a total loss of power, and the flight instructor subsequently executed a forced landing to a nearby road. During the landing, the airplane struck a utility pole and nosed over. A postaccident test run of the engine revealed no evidence of any mechanical anomalies. According to postaccident photographs of the cockpit, the audio control panel was selected to Comm 1; however, Comm 2 was the radio that was set to the airport's common traffic advisory frequency, which was used for the pilot-controlled lighting. The airplane was operating in conditions conducive to serious carburetor icing at cruise power at the time of the accident. The probability existed that the airplane was operated in an area conducive to induction icing, and, although the flight instructor applied carburetor heat, the accumulation of the ice was greater than the application of heat could melt. It is further possible that during the go-around the abrupt throttle movement to the full power setting caused the total loss of engine power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight instructor’s failure to ensure the radio was set correctly to activate the pilot-controlled lighting, which resulted in poor positioning for a proper landing and a subsequent off-runway forced landing during an attempted go-around. Contributing to the accident was a partial loss of engine power due to carburetor ice.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/20/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1945 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Belfast |
| Event State | MAINE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 04915 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 442432N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0690111W |
| Event Location Airport | Belfast Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BST |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 198 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1955 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 190 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RKD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 56 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.19 |
| 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) | 30633 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 5 2012 11:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N46492 |
| NTSB Number | ERA12LA241 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172K |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17257303 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | Dec 6 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 19 |
| Airframe Hours | 3926 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JEJ LEASING LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | BANGOR |
| Aircraft Owner State | ME |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 04401-4201 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Maine Coastal Flight |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Trenton |
| Operator State | ME |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 04605 |
| 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 | BHB |
| Departure City | Bar Harbor |
| Departure State | ME |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1910 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PWM |
| Destination City | Portland |
| Destination State | ME |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 16 2012 11:37AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 15 |
| Runway Length | 4000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |