The Superior Culver LFA had recently been rebuilt and the engine had been overhauled. The purpose of the flight was to transport the airplane from the maintenance facility to its owner in another state.
Witnesses reported that after takeoff from the airport in Syracuse, Kansas, and about 150 feet above ground level, the engine began to run rough.
The pilot made a steep left turn in a nose-high attitude as if he were attempting to return to the runway. The engine continued to run rough as the left wing dropped and the airplane entered a rapid descent before hitting the ground in a nose-low attitude.
The airplane was largely consumed by a post-crash fire. The pilot died in the crash.
During a post-accident examination, flight control continuity was established to all control surfaces. The magnetos remained attached to the engine and were thermally damaged along with both ignition harnesses. The carburetor sustained impact and thermal damage. The spark plugs were removed and found to be unremarkable. No evidence of a catastrophic engine failure was present.
When the temperature (66°F) and dewpoint (55°F) were plotted on a carburetor icing probability chart, the result was that the airplane was being operated in an area conducive to serious carburetor icing at glide power.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack, which resulted in an inadvertent aerodynamic stall while returning to the airport following a partial loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined.
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This April 2022 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Jim’s has it about right. The carburetor heat control merely indicates that it is working during run-up,and introduces non-filtered air into the engine.If so you will get an expected drop in RPM.
What it doesn’t do is tell you is , if there is icing already in the induction system in general, and the carburetor in particular. Of course if you leave it on it will slowly burn off any ice and the RPM will slowly rise. This, of course, will take time and introduce even more non-filtered into the engine !
The solution, apart from having a carburetor air temperature gauge, is to check engine RPM in the first application of full power. If that is lower than it should be under the current conditions, then icing could be a consideration
Couldn’t tell if the story was about Carb. ice or critical attitude recovery.
With the cooler weather here in northern California, on a 40 degree morning,I noted that my carb air temp gauge was in the yellow, icing zone, as I taxied out to the runway.
The engine was running a bit ‘off’, and as I pulled on the carb heat, and the temp rose above the yellow zone, the engine smoothed out. It was getting ice..!!
Once the oil temp started to rise , the carb temp remained in the ‘ok’ zone.
So even in ‘warm’ California, on ‘cool’ mornings I watch the carb temp after a cold start…
My first flight instructor (back in late ’70’s) taught me to pull the carb heat out for a few seconds shortly after takeoff, then push back in, to clear any ice. Another one of his students was yelled at (WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? WHAT ARE YOU DOING??) by his examiner during his flight test for doing this. The above article suggests that carb ice CAN develop at any stage of flight, not just with the throttle pulled back when preparing for landing.
I would think that pulling on the carb heat during the run up would be much better…checking for ice.!
On a warm day, using carb heat could cause the over rich mixture to flood and stop the engine.
Classic fatal mistake.
My instructor would sporadically shut the throttle when climbing out, especially when there was heavy a workload in the cockpit.
Never turn back unless you are at 500ft as a minnimum. Since you would now generally have a tail wind.
Flying back from France to the UK some years ago at temp 30C I had to have the carb heat out all the time since humidty was extremely high and attempting to turn it off resulted in an immediate return to rough running. Never had carb icing at or below 0c, but theres always a chance.
I like to read the comments from experienced “certified” pilots more than the article itself.
Good Stuff
Robert
That’s the idea in making positive comments;
To add experiences from pilots, so that other pilots might not make the same mistakes or missed procedures.
None of will live long enough to experience all the possible piloting problems ourselves.
For the most part does and don’ts are based on lesser degrees of proficiency. Some can recognize what’s possible and what’s not, deviating as necessary.
In my initial flight training I was taught to not try to turn back to the airport if an engine failure occurred during takeoff, but to continue straight ahead, with slight compensations to avoid structures and trees and try to land the plane as if you were on a power-off final approach to the runway, avoiding anything near your path to landing. I was taught that a nose high turn, especially to the left, would likely result in a stall too close to the ground to recover from. Sounds like that’s what happened in this case…..a panicked turn back towards the runway, resulting in a stall and crash. This seems to be the result of poor training and lack of confidence.
Wish all pilots would learn to fly gliders first! Then these accidents wouldn’t happen. You see in a glider your only option is to lower your nose. Once done you have all the time in the world. Power pilots when power is lost, push down the nose a lot. The same pitch attitude as a power off landing. Practice power off landings and burn that pitch attitude into your brain. No one should ever die in a plane, those who do have received poor training and made poor decisions. Want to become a better power pilot? Go get your glider license. It’s a quick add on that will teach you a lot.
Agree ..get a Glider CERTICATE first..then 10 hours of Aerobatics in a conventional landing gear aircraft..then get your PPC……
In the USA….one is CERTIFIED…not licensed
Carb ice did not cause the aircraft to crash…it started a sequence of decisions by the PIC..in this case poor decisions…..and in my opinion..the article headline is misleading
I had this exact situation, under similar circumstances, on takeoff in a 172. I said to myself, “Damn, Rope Broke”, and let my glider experience kick in. I landed back on the airport, with no harm or damage.
Was this a case of intentionally trying to increase turning performance with back pressure or a panicked reaction on the controls from seemingly seeing the ground coming upward. The ACS emphasizes proper control in these emergencies – “Engine failure in takeoff/climb phase of flight”. It isn’t easy sometimes, but no matter what, attitude control is always number one.