N6460R

On August 5, 2022, about 2215 central daylight time, a Piper PA-28-140 airplane, N6460R, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Vernon Hills, Illinois. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

According to the pilot, he departed from Campbell Airport (C81), Grayslake, Illinois, earlier in the day and flew to Reese Airport (7I2), Muncie, Indiana. He was returning to C81 when the accident occurred. The route took the airplane along the southeast shore of Lake Michigan and the pilot reported that shortly after crossing the lake’s shore the airplane’s engine began losing power. He reported that he performed emergency procedures that included applying carburetor heat, switching the selected fuel tank from the left to the right, activating the electric fuel pump, and attempting to restart the engine. He noted that he made about 3 such attempts without success in restarting the engine.

The airplane’s altitude was about 2,000 ft mean sea level when the engine lost power because it was operating below the outer layers of the O’Hare Airport Class B airspace. The pilot attempted to turn the airplane and glide to the Waukegan National Airport (UGN), Waukegan, Illinois, but realized that there was insufficient altitude. He executed a forced landing to a road. During the landing rollout, the airplane sustained substantial damage to its right wing when it impacted a road sign.

Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data indicated that the airplane departed C81 at 1724 and arrived at 7I2 at 2023, a flight of 1 hour 59 minutes. ADS-B data further indicated that the return flight from 7I2 began at 2039, and the last recorded position was at 2215, a flight duration of 1 hour 36 minutes. The total flight duration for the round trip was 3 hours 35 minutes.

Postaccident examination of the airplane confirmed substantial damage to the right wing. The left fuel tank fuel gauge read empty and the right fuel tank fuel gauge read between 5 and 6 gallons. All remaining fuel was drained from both wing fuel tanks. The left fuel tank contained about 1 quart of fuel and the right fuel tank contained about 10 gallons of fuel and 1-1/2 ounces of water.

Examination of the engine revealed that the flexible tube from the heat shroud to the carburetor heat box was partially collapsed. The damage to the tube did not appear to be impact related. Investigators were not able to establish when the damage occurred. Several of the engine spark plug ignition leads were loose. The engine rotated freely, and compression was felt on all cylinders. The fuel that was drained was placed back into the tanks and an engine run was performed.

The ignition leads and collapsed induction tube were reinstalled as-found following the accident for the engine run. The engine started normally and ran smoothly. The engine rpm was increased, and a magneto check performed at 2,000 rpm with normal rpm drop. When the carburetor heat check was performed, the engine rpm reduced by 700 rpm, but returned to normal rpm when the carburetor heat was turned off. The induction tube could not be seen from the cockpit during the engine run. No other anomalies were detected during the engine test run that would have precluded normal operations.

Investigators then disconnected the induction hose and ran the engine a second time. During the second engine run the carburetor heat system performed as expected during the carburetor heat check.

A review of the airplane maintenance records showed that an annual inspection was completed on April 11, 2022. There was no mention of the collapsed induction tube in the entries for the annual inspection, or any previous entries provided.

The recorded temperature and dew point, 25° C and 22°C respectively, were in the range of susceptibility for serious carburetor icing at glide power settings.