CARTWRIGHT, ND, USA
N8246H
CALLAIR A-9
THE PILOT WAS SPRAYING THIOLUX ON A FIELD AND HAD JUST PULLED UP FROM SWATH RUN WHEN HE HEARD A LOUD BANG AND NOTED ENGINE RPM DECAY. GROUND WITNESSES ALSO HEARD THE BANG AND OBSERVED DARK SMOKE TRAILING FROM THE AIRCRAFT. THE PILOT MADE A FORCED LANDING IN AN ALFALFA FIELD. THE LANDING GEAR COLLAPSED, RESULTING IN SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE. A SMALL CARBURETOR FIRE WAS ALSO EXTINGUISHED. THE ENGINE AND CARBURETOR WERE PARTIALLY DISASSEMBLED. EVIDENCE OF AN EXTREMELY RICH MIXTURE, BACKFIRE, AND CARBURETOR FIRE WAS FOUND. ALL THE SPARK PLUGS WERE BLACK. THE CARBURETOR WAS OVERHAULED IN 1987 BECAUSE THE ENGINE RAN ROUGH AND WOULD NOT DEVELOP FULL POWER, REGARDLESS OF MIXTURE CONTROL SETTING. THE CARBURETOR HAD ACCUMULATED 300 HOURS SINCE OVERHAUL.
A TOTAL LOSS OF POWER DUE TO AN IMPROPERLY ADJUSTED CARBURETOR WHICH RESULTED IN AN EXCESSIVE RICH FUEL-AIR MIXTURE. THIS REQUIRED A FORCED LANDING IN AN AREA WHERE NO SUITABLE TERRAIN EXISTED.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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