January 19, 2012, Springfield, Tenn., Cessna 172I Skyhawk

The airplane was substantially damaged during a forced landing following loss of engine power at about 1455 Central time. The commercial pilot was not injured. Visual conditions prevailed. While descending through 2100 feet msl for his destination, the pilot configured the airplane for landing by reducing engine power to about 1500 rpm and setting the mixture to full rich. He did not activate carburetor heat.

Editorial Staff

Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A commercial pilot performed a forced landing after the airplane's engine lost power during descent, resulting in substantial damage to the aircraft.
The engine power loss occurred after the pilot reduced power and set the mixture to full rich without activating carburetor heat, causing the engine to act “starved for fuel.”
During the landing rollout in a field, the airplane nosed over after its nose landing gear struck a ditch, though the pilot was not injured.

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The airplane was substantially damaged during a forced landing following loss of engine power at about 1455 Central time. The commercial pilot was not injured. Visual conditions prevailed.

While descending through 2100 feet msl for his destination, the pilot configured the airplane for landing by reducing engine power to about 1500 rpm and setting the mixture to full rich. He did not activate carburetor heat. The engine then “suddenly acted as though it were starved for fuel.” The pilot subsequently landed the airplane on the downward slope of a field at around 60 knots. During the rollout, the nose landing gear struck a ditch and the airplane nosed over.