| Crash location | 47.166945°N, 122.016667°W |
| Nearest city | Buckley, WA
47.163157°N, 122.026779°W 0.5 miles away |
| Tail number | N2751S |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 07 Jun 2005 |
| Aircraft type | Cessna 150G |
| Additional details: | None |
On June 7, 2005, at 1810 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 150G, N2751S, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing following a loss of engine power on takeoff from a private airstrip near Buckley, Washington. The commercial pilot and his passenger were not injured. The airplane was registered to a private individual and operated by the pilot under 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight that departed from the private airstrip about 1730.
According to the pilot, after flying in the local area for about 30 minutes, he returned to the Burnett Landing private airstrip and completed an approach and full stop landing on runway 31. The approach was made with the carburetor heat on. The pilot then taxied the airplane back to the end of the runway, completed a run up and departed. He noticed the airplane was not climbing normally, and at approximately 300 feet agl, the engine coughed twice and lost power. The pilot executed a forced landing on a school football field. During the landing roll, the airplane impacted a chain link fence. Both wings and the right elevator sustained structural damage.
After exiting the airplane, the pilot noticed "a small puddle and dripping coming from the engine cowl." The pilot concluded this was "probably ice melting out of the carburetor." The following morning, the pilot returned to the scene of the accident and started the engine, which "fired right off and ran smoothly."
The reported weather conditions at 1755 at McChord Air Force Base, Tacoma, Washington, located about 20 nautical miles west of the accident site, included a temperature of 54 degrees F and a dew point of 51 degrees F. When plotted on a carburetor icing probability chart, this combination of temperature and dew point falls in the area conducive to the formation of serious carburetor icing at cruise power.
The pilot's failure to use carburetor heat which resulted in a loss of engine power due to carburetor ice and a forced landing. Contributing factors were the carburetor icing conditions and the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.