Cessna 162 N552ES accident near Huntsville, Alabama

Probable cause

The flight instructor’s failure to use carburetor heat, which resulted in the total loss of engine power due to carburetor icing.

NTSB analysis

During an instructional flight, the student pilot and flight instructor were returning to the airport. While descending to traffic pattern altitude with the carburetor heat off, the student applied full power to level off, but the engine lost total power. The instructor took control of the airplane and pumped the throttle, which resulted in a brief surge of power, followed by a total loss of power. The instructor then performed a forced landing to a field, during which the airplane impacted trees, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing and aileron, right wingtip, and the fuselage.

Postaccident examination of the engine revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation, and during an engine test-run, the engine started and ran continuously at multiple power settings. The atmospheric conditions at the time of the accident were conducive to the accumulation of serious carburetor icing at glide power. Therefore, given the atmospheric conditions and that the instructor did not use carburetor heat, it is likely that the carburetor accumulated ice during the descent, which resulted in the total loss of engine power.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA17LA341 for the full record.