The commercial pilot was returning the airplane to the departure airport for landing after a skydiving
flight. Two witnesses reported observing the pilot fly the airplane over the runway; one witness said it
was about 50 ft above ground level (agl), and the other witness said it was about 100 ft agl. One of the
witnesses added that, when the airplane reached the end of the runway, it pitched up about 45 degrees,
gained about 200 ft of altitude, and then entered a turn with a 45-bank angle. The witness added that,
after the airplane had turned about 90 degrees to a westerly heading, its nose dropped, and the airplane
“immediately dove.” The airplane subsequently entered a left spin and rotated about 180 degrees before
impacting trees and then the ground. A second witness noted that the engine sounded like it was at “full
throttle” during the descent as if the pilot was attempting to recover from the dive.
Category: Lexington
The pilot reported that, during the descent, he applied carburetor heat but that he then removed
carburetor heat when leveling off. The pilot reduced the throttle to slow the airplane while on final
approach. When he advanced the throttle to maintain airspeed, the engine power did not increase; the
pilot was unable to restore full engine power. The engine subsequently lost all power when the pilot
applied carburetor heat. During the forced landing to a field, the nose landing gear and propeller
contacted a barbed wire fence, and the airplane then nosed down, impacted the ground, and nosed over.
A postaccident examination revealed no mechanical failures that would have resulted in the loss of
engine power. The atmospheric conditions at the time of the accident were conducive to the formation of
serious carburetor icing at glide power. It is likely that carburetor ice developed after the pilot reduced
the engine power/closed the throttle while in the traffic pattern without applying carburetor heat, which
resulted in a loss of engine power. The manufacturer’s before landing checklist states to apply carburetor
heat before closing the throttle.
Following three days of rain, the pilot attempted a soft field takeoff from a turf runway. The pilot reported that as the airplane was “sliding” down the runway he observed something on the windscreen that resembled oil, followed by a decrease in engine oil pressure.