Probable cause
Maintenance personnel’s improper installation of the carburetor during recent maintenance, including the omission of a required cotter pin, which resulted in a total loss of engine power.
NTSB analysis
The pilot reported that the airplane was on final approach to the airport when the engine started to lose power. He applied carburetor heat and switched fuel tanks, but engine power was not restored, so he made a forced landing to a field near the airport.
An examination of the wreckage found that the castellated nut that connects the throttle arm to the carburetor had backed off, which allowed the engine to go to idle, and that the nut's associated cotter pin was missing. The pilot reported that the carburetor had been replaced the day before the accident flight. The accident is consistent with the throttle arm becoming disengaged from the carburetor as a result of a missing cotter pin and the accompanying nut subsequently backing off.
Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN16LA033 for the full record.
Event
- Date
- Nov 6, 2015
- Type
- Accident
- Place
- Gonzales, Louisiana
- Nearest airport
- Louisiana Regional Airport (L38)
- Highest injury
- Serious
- Serious injuries
- 1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC)
- Light
- Day
Cessna 120
- N-number
- N2942N
- Category
- Airplane
- Year built
- 1947
- Damage
- Substantial
- Operating rule
- Part 91 (general aviation)
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
From the NTSB aviation accident database: N-registered aircraft, events since 2008, data through Oct 28, 2026. The file is published monthly, so the latest weeks are incomplete and recent records can change. The official source is the NTSB aviation investigation search. CheckAero is independent and not affiliated with the NTSB.