N71494Cessna 182M · 1969

On January 5, 2023, about 1120 central standard time, a Cessna 182M airplane, N71494, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near, Council Bluffs, Iowa. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

According to the pilot, he was flying to Council Bluffs Municipal Airport (CBF) to discuss having avionics work performed on the airplane. There was another airplane on a practice VOR-A instrument approach to CBF and the pilot recognized there was going to be a conflict, so he elected to perform a 360° turn to allow for increased spacing. At this time, he had the airplane configured with 10° flap, with the manifold pressure at 13 inches of mercury, and carburetor heat on.

As the airplane entered the turn, he increased power to 17 inches of mercury and held his altitude at 1,900 ft msl. As the airplane completed about half of the 360° turn, he added power to maintain altitude and there was no response from the engine. The airplane was about 500 ft above ground level and the pilot stated that he did not have time to restart the engine. He said that he focused on locating a suitable landing area and controlling the airplane. The pilot stated that he did not turn off the carburetor heat during the turn or after the engine stopped producing power. There was about 38 gallons of fuel on-board the airplane and the fuel selector was on BOTH.

The pilot executed a forced landing to a harvested soybean field. During the landing, the airplane struck a terrace in the field, which damaged the forward fuselage.

After the accident a test run of the engine was conducted. The engine started normally and idled smoothly. Once warmed up, the engine was advanced to 1,500 rpm and the engine continued to run smoothly. A magneto check was performed indicating about 75 rpm drop on each magneto. The carburetor heat was activated and indicated a drop in rpm when applied. The engine rpm was not advanced above 1,500 rpm due to concerns about the bent propeller.

The weather conditions at the time of the accident included a temperature of -1° C, and dewpoint of -7° C. These were in a range for potential carburetor icing at glide and cruise power.