Probable cause
A partial loss of engine power during descent due to an incorrectly installed carburetor.
NTSB analysis
The airplane encountered severe turbulence and downdrafts after flying through a mountain pass, and the pilot applied full engine power in an effort to arrest the descent. The engine did not respond, and the pilot performed a forced landing onto a highway. While the pilot attempted to avoid automobiles, the airplane landed hard and sustained substantial damage.
Examination revealed that about 20 years and 300 flight hours before the accident, threaded studs had been used to mount the carburetor airbox to the carburetor inlet, rather than the appropriate bolts. The studs had been overdriven and penetrated the carburetor bowl, fracturing the bowl housing. Fragments of the damaged housing lay at the bottom of the bowl until the accident flight, when the turbulence likely caused them to migrate and interfere with either the float or the fuel mixture metering system.
Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR19LA021 for the full record.
Event
- Date
- Nov 8, 2018
- Type
- Accident
- Place
- Ontario, California
- Nearest airport
- Cable (CCB)
- Highest injury
- None
- Weather
- Visual (VMC)
- Light
- Day
Cessna 182
- N-number
- N9914M
- Category
- Airplane
- Year built
- 1976
- 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.