Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rockford, Illinois 61109
Friday, August 17, 2012 16:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While on a visual approach to the runway during the instructional flight, the engine lost partial power. The flight instructor reported that the engine was operating normally and then the engine rpm decreased from 2,200 to about 1,300. The carburetor heat was in the OFF position for the approach. The flight instructor's efforts to regain engine power were unsuccessful. The airplane touched down in a field short of the airport, nosed over, and came to rest inverted. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the vertical stabilizer and rudder were bent; no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation were identified. The engine was test run at various power settings with no anomalies noted. A carburetor icing probability chart revealed that at the ambient temperature and dew point at the time of the accident favored serious carburetor icing at glide power. It is likely that, if the pilot had applied carburetor heat before his initial power reduction, it would have prevented the formation of carburetor ice and avoided the loss of engine power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A partial loss of engine power due to carburetor icing as a result of the pilot’s failure to apply carburetor heat.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/17/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1630 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rockford |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 61109 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 421143N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0890550W |
| 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 | 1554 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 210 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RFD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 742 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| 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) | 30.01 |
| 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) | 30573 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA 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 | Oct 1 2012 3:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N152BA |
| NTSB Number | CEN12CA599 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 152 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15282722 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 2 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 9708 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | POPLAR GROVE AIRMOTIVE INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | POPLAR GROVE |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 61065 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | ON FILE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | POPLAR GROVE |
| Operator State | IL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 61065 |
| 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 | C77 |
| Departure City | Poplar Grove |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1600 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | RFD |
| Destination City | Rockford |
| Destination State | IL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 8 2012 9:41AM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| 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 | -- |