Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Reading, Michigan 49274
Saturday, April 20, 2013 11:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that, while in cruise flight, the engine speed decreased from the selected cruise power setting to 1,900 rpm over a few seconds. The pilot was unable to restore full engine power; therefore, he performed an off-airport landing to a nearby field. The airplane abruptly stopped when it encountered an area of deep mud. A postaccident examination revealed that the throttle control had separated from the carburetor's throttle arm. The corresponding retention hardware was not recovered. The airplane had undergone an annual/100-hour inspection 2 days before the accident flight. The aviation mechanic who performed the inspection and held an inspection authorization certificate reported that, after completing the overhaul of the engine, he could not locate the specified cotter pin used to safety the airframe throttle control to the carburetor throttle arm; therefore, he chose to use safety wire to secure the throttle control assembly instead of the specified cotter pin. Therefore, the throttle control was not properly secured to the carburetor's throttle arm, which allowed them to separate during the accident flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The partial loss of engine power due to the improper securing of the throttle linkage by maintenance personnel.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/20/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1130 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Reading |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49274 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 415024N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0844215W |
| 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 | 1134 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 48 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KJYM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1184 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.14 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KJYM 201555Z AUTO 29014G21KT 10SM BKN034 OVC |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31924 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Central Region Duty Officer, P |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 31 2013 4:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3682L |
| NTSB Number | CEN13LA232 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172G |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17253851 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 18 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | 3079 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Sidney A. Holcomb |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tecumseh |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49286-1433 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Sidney A. Holcomb |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Tecumseh |
| Operator State | MI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 49286-1433 |
| 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 | KADG |
| Departure City | Adrian |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KJOT |
| Destination City | Joliet |
| Destination State | IL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 5 2013 1:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |