John Nuttall was at the controls of the single-engine Piper Cherokee when the plane struck trees and crashed at Caernarfon Airport last May.
Mr Nuttall said he had hired the plane and was flying from Blackpool to Caernarfon with his son Iain, 37, and grandson Daniel.
Truck driver Iain Nuttall suffered a serious head injury and was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.
Mr Nuttall, 61, from Rossendale, Lancashire, told an inquest in Caernarfon today that the flight along the North Wales coast had been “uneventful”.
Approaching the airport he called the air traffic officer and asked to make a straight in approach to the westerly runway.
“It was standard procedure and I positioned the aircraft and turned left and reduced power for the descent.
“As I turned to face the runway the engine failed, the power stopped, it just went. I leveled out but was unable to get it back on again.
“I tried to gain height but there was no power from the engine.”
He and Daniel were badly injured and were airlifted to hospital but have since recovered Witnesses told the inquest at Caernarfon they watched in horror as they realized the aircraft was too low and about to crash.
One, David Howells was in the caravan park adjoining the airport and said he saw the aircraft approach and realized it was too low and would “not make the airfield”.
“It was 50-100 feet too low and flying very slowly. Just before the trees it began to pull up but it appeared the tail hit the trees and disappeared from sight.
“It was fairly obvious it was going to crash and I began running,” he said.
He was the first at the scene and found the aircraft upside down with fuel pouring from the left hand wing tank.
“I could see one man in the doorway, he wasn’t moving and could hear a child crying and another man groaning. There was nothing I could do and waited for the emergency services who were there very quickly,” he said.
Air investigators told North Wales senior coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones there was no evidence the Piper Cherokee’s engine failed but found it lost power and there may have been ice on the carburetor.
Air Accident Investigation Branch senior investigator Margaret Dean said carburetor icing can build up slowly and gradually and its symptoms are not evident, especially during a descent.
“It only becomes apparent when power is required,” she added.
Mrs Dunn added she would expect pilots to apply carb heat during an approach to prevent ice from building up in the engine.
The hearing heard there were issues with the aircraft’s condition. Investigators found two bolts holding the wing to the fuselage were missing - but the coroner said while he was aware of “peripheral issues” these were not relevant to the inquest.
Recording a verdict of accidental death said: “The main cause, in my view and on the balance or probabilities, is due to carburetor icing and the failure of the pilot to identify that.”
Mr Nuttall left the hearing without comment.
Pilot John Nuttall arriving for his son's inquest held at Caernarfon's Registry Office
A light aircraft crash at Caernarfon which killed the son of the pilot was probably caused by the carburetor icing up, an inquest has heard.
Iain Nuttall, 37, of Blackburn, died when a Piper Cherokee piloted by his father John lost power in May 2013.
It hit trees, before nosediving to the ground and flipping over, also injuring Mr Nuttall's son Daniel, five.
An accidental death conclusion was recorded.
Coroner Dewi Pritchard-Jones told the Caernarfon inquest: "The main cause of the crash is the icing of the carburetor and the failure of the pilot to probably appreciate that, and apply carburetor heat to remove the icing."
The fatal accident happened on a flight from Blackpool to Caernarfon.
'Instantaneous'
The inquest heard how the chartered aircraft lost power as John Nuttall started to land.
He said: "As I turned to face the runway the engine failed. The power stopped, it just went. I just couldn't get the power back on."
John Nuttall, who was also seriously injured, said the power loss was "instantaneous". He saw the trees and had tried to gain height.
Coroner Mr Pritchard-Jones said the ice did not stop the single engine, but reduced the flow of fuel into it.
In June, an Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report into the crash found it may have been caused by ice in the engine.
"The investigation did not find any evidence of a failure within the engine but the atmospheric conditions were conducive to carburetor icing," said the report.
http://www.aaib.gov.uk
Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee, G-ATRR
Location: Caernarfon Airport, Gwynedd
Date of occurrence: 19 May 2013
Summary:
The aircraft was making an approach to Runway 26 at Caernarfon Airport when it struck a tree. The pilot reported that he had suffered a loss of power at a late stage of the approach and had been unable to reach the airfield. The investigation did not find any evidence of a failure within the engine but the atmospheric conditions were conducive to carburetor icing.
http://www.aaib.gov.uk
Iain Nuttall, 37, was a passenger in a plane flown by his father
Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee (G-ATRR) crashed at Caernarfon airport
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