Piper PA28 N4673R accident near Puyallup, Washington

Probable cause

A partial loss of engine power as a result of carburetor icing and the flight instructors failure to use carburetor heat.

NTSB analysis

The student pilot reported that they conducted two uneventful touch-and-go landings. After the second touch-and-go, they were climbing with full power through about 500 ft when the engine sputtered momentarily. The instructor took over the flight controls and continued a left crosswind when the engine power reduced to idle. The instructor turned the airplane back toward the airport and ensured the fuel selector was on, throttle and mixture were full forward, and magnetos on both. The student pilot pressed the starter to see if that would help, but the engine continued at idle, and the airplane continued to descend. Unable to make it to the airport, the instructor made an off-airport landing during which the airplane touched down momentarily and bounced back into ground effect. It impacted a few trees before coming to a stop in a parking lot. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage.

A postaccident examination and run of the engine did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The temperature and dewpoint conditions were plotted and fell on the line between serious icing at cruise power and serious icing at glide power. The instructor reported that he did not use carburetor heat once the engine started to sputter.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR21LA017 for the full record.