Roger Keene, 73, of Richfield talks with media after a forced landing. The plane lost power a mile or so outside the airport so Keene chose the safest place he could find to land. Keene was the only one in the plane and walked away uninjured. "I was lucky," he said.
The National Transportation Safety Board did not travel to the scene of this accident.
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Cleveland, Ohio
Aviation Accident Final Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf
Investigation Docket - National Transportation Safety Board: https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms
Aviation Accident Data Summary - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf
http://registry.faa.gov/N353RA
Accident Number: CEN18LA073
Date & Time: 01/11/2018, 1130 EST
Registration: N353RA
Aircraft: S.O.C.A.T.A. MS893E
Aircraft Damage: Substantial
Defining Event: Loss of engine power (total)
Injuries: 1 None
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General Aviation - Ferry
Analysis
The private pilot was ferrying the airplane, which he had not flown for more than 1 year and had an expired annual inspection, to a new hangar. While on final approach during the short flight, the engine lost total power. After unsuccessful attempts to restore engine power, the pilot made a forced landing and struck trees, which resulted in substantial damage to both wings.
Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of preimpact malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation of the engine or fuel system. The carburetor heat control was found in the off position at the accident site. The pilot reported that, although his normal habit pattern was to apply carburetor heat on downwind, he may not have on the accident flight. Nearby weather conditions were conducive to the formation of serious carburetor icing at descent power about the time of the engine power loss. Thus, it is likely that the pilot’s failure to apply carburetor heat allowed carburetor ice to accumulate during the descent, which resulted in a loss of engine power.
Probable Cause and Findings
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot’s failure to apply carburetor heat during the approach, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to carburetor icing.
Findings
Aircraft
Intake anti-ice, deice - Not used/operated (Cause)
Personnel issues
Lack of action - Pilot (Cause)
Identification/recognition - Pilot (Cause)
Environmental issues
Conducive to carburetor icing - Effect on equipment (Cause)
Tree(s) - Contributed to outcome
Factual Information
On January 11, 2018, about 1130 eastern standard time, a S.O.C.A.T.A. MS893E airplane, N353RA, was substantially damaged during a forced landing at Wadsworth Municipal Airport (3G3), Wadsworth, Ohio. The private pilot was not injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a ferry flight. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which departed without a flight plan from Reader-Botsford Airport (67D), Wellington, Ohio, about 1120.
The pilot stated that the purpose of the flight was to ferry the airplane, which had an expired annual inspection, to a new hangar. During the approach to 3G3, the pilot noticed a loss of engine power. Following unsuccessful attempts to restore engine power, the pilot executed a forced landing, during which the airplane impacted trees and damaged both wings.
Examination of the airplane at the accident site revealed the carburetor heat control was in the off position. The left fuel tank contained nine gallons of fuel and the right fuel tank contained seven gallons of fuel. The fuel contained no contaminants and no obstructions were found in the fuel lines. The engine was rotated by hand utilizing the propeller and compression was observed at all cylinders, with normal valve train and crankshaft continuity. Both magnetos were rotated by hand and produced spark at all leads. The engine fuel pump was actuated and exhibited normal suction and compression of fuel. The carburetor filter was free of contaminants and no anomalies were noted with the carburetor. Examination of the engine and fuel system revealed no preimpact anomalies that would have precluded operation of the engine.
The pilot stated that although his normal habit pattern was to activate the carburetor heat control while on downwind, this action may not have occurred on the accident flight and he thought the power loss might have been caused by carburetor icing. He had not flown the airplane for more than a year.
The recorded temperature and dew point data from a nearby weather station were plotted on a carburetor icing chart. The charted data showed that the weather was conducive to serious icing at descent power near the time of the engine power loss.
History of Flight
Approach-VFR pattern final
Loss of engine power (total) (Defining event)
Emergency descent
Off-field or emergency landing
Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
Roger Keene walks around at the scene where he force landed his plane in a yard on Concord Place on January 11, 2018. Keene was on his way from the airport in Wellington to store his plane at Wadsworth Municipal Airport.Certificate: Private
Age: 73, Male
Airplane Rating(s): Single-engine Land
Seat Occupied: Left
Other Aircraft Rating(s): None
Restraint Used: 3-point
Instrument Rating(s): None
Second Pilot Present: No
Instructor Rating(s): None
Toxicology Performed: No
Medical Certification: Class 3 Without Waivers/Limitations
Last FAA Medical Exam: 06/01/2016
Occupational Pilot: No
Last Flight Review or Equivalent: 12/01/2017
Flight Time: 910 hours (Total, all aircraft), 300 hours (Total, this make and model), 910 hours (Pilot In Command, all aircraft), 1 hours (Last 90 days, all aircraft), 0 hours (Last 30 days, all aircraft), 0 hours (Last 24 hours, all aircraft)
Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information
Aircraft Make: S.O.C.A.T.A.
Registration: N353RA
Model/Series: MS893E
Aircraft Category: Airplane
Year of Manufacture: 1978
Amateur Built: No
Airworthiness Certificate: Normal
Serial Number: 13180
Landing Gear Type: Tricycle
Seats: 4
Date/Type of Last Inspection: 06/01/2016, Annual
Certified Max Gross Wt.: 2315 lbs
Time Since Last Inspection: 1 Hours
Engines: 1 Reciprocating
Airframe Total Time: 601 Hours at time of accident
Engine Manufacturer: LYCOMING
ELT: Installed, activated, did not aid in locating accident
Engine Model/Series: O&VO-360 SER
Registered Owner: On file
Rated Power: 180 hp
Operator: On file
Operating Certificate(s) Held: None
Meteorological Information and Flight Plan
Conditions at Accident Site: Visual Conditions
Condition of Light: Day
Observation Facility, Elevation: KAKR, 1101 ft msl
Distance from Accident Site: 13 Nautical Miles
Observation Time: 1154 EST
Direction from Accident Site: 81°
Lowest Cloud Condition: Clear
Visibility: 10 Miles
Lowest Ceiling: None
Visibility (RVR):
Wind Speed/Gusts: 12 knots / 20 knots
Turbulence Type Forecast/Actual: None / None
Wind Direction: 190°
Turbulence Severity Forecast/Actual: N/A / N/A
Altimeter Setting: 30.07 inches Hg
Temperature/Dew Point: 15°C / 8°C
Precipitation and Obscuration: No Obscuration; No Precipitation
Departure Point: WELLINGTON, OH (67D)
Type of Flight Plan Filed: None
Destination: Wadsworth, OH (3G3)
Type of Clearance: None
Departure Time: 1120 EST
Type of Airspace: Class G
Airport Information
Airport: WADSWORTH MUNI (3G3)
Runway Surface Type: Asphalt
Airport Elevation: 973 ft
Runway Surface Condition: Vegetation
Runway Used: 20
IFR Approach: None
Runway Length/Width: 3529 ft / 75 ft
VFR Approach/Landing: Forced Landing; Traffic Pattern
Wreckage and Impact Information
Crew Injuries: 1 None
Aircraft Damage: Substantial
Passenger Injuries: N/A
Aircraft Fire: None
Ground Injuries: N/A
Aircraft Explosion: None
Total Injuries: 1 None
Latitude, Longitude: 41.003056, -81.756389 (est)
Roger Keene stands at the scene where he force landed his plane in a yard on Concord Place in Wadsworth. 
Roger Keene (left) works with state troopers in a yard on Concord Place after force landing his plane in Wadsworth. 
Roger Keene walks past debris after a forced landing in a yard on Concord Place in Wadsworth.
Roger Keene was flying from Reader-Botsford Airport in Wellington and was making his final approach to Wadsworth Municipal Airport around 11:45 a.m. today when the power went out on his plane. He was looking for a safe place to land and ended up putting the plane down in the backyard of a home on Concord Place near Route 57 in Wadsworth.
Keene clipped some trees on his descent, slowing him down enough that he didn’t hit a nearby gazebo, coming to rest instead alongside it.
“Had I hit that, I would have been quite dead,” Keene said after the accident. “The engine would have been pushed back into the passenger compartment, and that would have been the end of me.”
Keene, a Ford Motor Co. retiree who served, but didn’t fly, in the Vietnam War, took up flying as a hobby, and will probably retire from that now, he said.
“This will be it for me,” he said.
Keene took off from Wellington at about 11:20 a.m. because the new owners of Reader-Botsford Airport recently told pilots who kept their planes there that the airport would close.
The property will instead be used for agricultural purposes, said Ken Bartlett, who lives in a home on the airport property he leases from the current owner.
“They informed the pilots who kept planes in the hangar of the decision to close the airport,” Bartlett said. “They told everyone they needed to have their planes off the property.”
The pilot was the last to move his plane from the property, which is what he was trying to do Thursday, Bartlett said. The pilot had previously tried to move it a few weeks ago, but issues with the plane may have caused him the delay in those plans, Bartlett said.
Bartlett said he didn’t know what kind of issues the plane was having, and it said it may have been something as simple as a battery needed charged.
Keene’s plane is totaled. The Ohio Highway Patrol and Federal Aviation Administration are on the scene investigating the crash.
Story, video and photo gallery ➤ http://www.chroniclet.com
WADSWORTH: A single-engine plane force landed about 11:45 this morning during its landing approach to Wadsworth Municipal Airport.
Pilot Roger Keene, 73, of Richfield said he was flying alone from the airport in the Lorain County village of Wellington to store his 1980 two-seater at the Wadsworth airport.
He said the plane lost power about a mile outside the airport, so he chose the safest place he could find to land.
The plane landed in the backyard of a house on a cul-de-sac on Concord Place, off Plum Creek Drive.
The property backs up to Wadsworth Road and the airport is just on the other side of the highway.
“I was lucky,” said Keene, who not injured.
Chad Haller, the airport’s manager, said Ohio State Highway Patrol officers helped Keene climb out of the wreckage.
The blue-and-white plane’s left wing appeared to have clipped the side of a lean-to building with a picnic table in it.
Two of the plane’s wheels appeared to have broken off, but the body of the plane was largely intact.
Story and photo gallery ➤ https://www.ohio.com
Roger Keene walks around at the scene where he force landed his plane in a yard on Concord Place on Thursday. Keene was on his way from the airport in Wellington to store his 1980 plane at Wadsworth Municipal Airport. Roger Keene stands at the scene where he force landed his plane in a yard on Concord Place in Wadsworth. Roger Keene (left) works with state troopers in a yard on Concord Place after force landing his plane in Wadsworth.
Roger Keene walks past debris after he force landed his plane in a yard on Concord Place in Wadsworth.
WADSWORTH, Ohio-- A plane crashed near Wadsworth Municipal Airport Thursday morning.
Police said it crashed in a backyard on Concord Place, near state Route 57 and Seville Road. That's less than a mile from the airport.
No one was injured, according to the Wadsworth Police Department.
The pilot said he lost power to the engine while making his approach to the airport.
Story and video ➤ http://fox8.com
