COATSVILLE, PA, USA
N60426
CESSNA 150J
THE AIRPLANE WAS IN CRUISE FLIGHT AT 2000 FT MSL WHEN THE PILOT NOTICED A GRADUAL DROP IN ENGINE RPM. HE ADDED CARBURETOR HEAT; HOWEVER, THE ENGINE RPM CONTINUED TO DECREASE AND HE SET UP FOR A FORCED LANDING. DURING ROLLOUT, TO PREVENT FROM GOING ONTO A ROAD WHERE VEHICLES WERE TRAVELING, THE PILOT APPLIED HEAVY BRAKING. THE NOSE WHEEL DUG INTO THE SOFT TERRAIN, AND THE AIRPLANE NOSED OVER. ACCORDING TO AN FAA PUBLISHED CARBURETOR ICING CHART, THE TEMPERATURE/DEW POINT, RESPECTIVELY 87 AND 65 DEGREES F, WERE WITHIN THE RANGE FOR CARBURETOR ICING CONDITIONS.
On July 12, 1994, at 1920 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 150J, N60426, owned and operated by Chester County Aviation, of Coatsville, Pennsylvania, experienced a power loss, and the pilot made an off airport landing near Coatsville. The airplane received substantial damage and the occupants were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the flight operating under 14 CFR Part 91. In the NTSB Accident Report, the pilot reported a gradual loss of RPM while in cruise flight, which could not be recovered with the use of carburetor heat. He set up for a forced landing in a field. After touchdown, as the airplane approached a road with vehicles on it, the pilot applied hard braking. The nose wheel dug into the soft terrain and the airplane nosed over. The FAA reported that on July 20, 1994, "...engine run up was completed...Engine started right up, run up went well, no indication of fuel contamination." At Philadelphia International Airport, which was 32 miles south east of the accident site, the temperature and dewpoint were 87 F and 65 F respectively, at 1850, and 86 F and 65 F respectively, at 1950. According to the carburetor icing chart probability chart, the airplane was operating in a range of "Serious Icing At Glide Power." The private pilot reported he had 266 hours total time and 250 hours in the Cessna 150.
The pilot's inadequate use of carburetor hear. A factor was carburetor icing conditions and soft terrain.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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