NTSB Factual Report

On March 5, 2005, at 1105 eastern standard time, a Cessna 152, N48820 registered to and operated by Jacksonville Flying Service, nose gear collapsed during an emergency landing at Albert J. Ellis Airport, Jacksonville, North Carolina. The instructional flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane was substantially damaged, and the certified flight instructor and student pilot were uninjured. The flight departed Albert J. Ellis Airport, North Carolina, on March 5, 2005 at 1100.

According to the certified flight instructor, after the engine run-up, the flight departed runway 23 to practice pattern maneuvers. As the airplane climbed out the airplane started to make a "spitting" sound, and the engine rpm dropped from 2500 rpm to 1900 rpm, and the airspeed of the airplane decreased to 60 knots. The certified flight instructor took over the flight controls, pitched the airplane for airspeed, continued flying the runway heading, and conducted a forced landing. The airplane landed approximately 145 yards off the departure end of runway 23.

Post accident examination of the airplane revealed that the right wing assembly was buckled. The nose gear was broken off of the engine mounts, and the firewall was buckled. Review of maintenance logbooks revealed no record of cable replacement within the 4859 flight hours on the airplane or since the airplane was new. Examination of the engine controls revealed that the mixture cable was broken.

NTSB Probable Cause

The loss of engine power due to the failure of the carburetor mixture cable which resulted in fuel starvation.