IAD03LA031 · Robinson R-44
Robinson R-44 · Accident: total loss of engine power (non-mechanical) during takeoff
From Clark Regional Airport (JVY) to Clarksville–Montgomery County Regional Airport (CKV)
Event
- NTSB case
- IAD03LA031
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Instrument Meteorological Cond
Robinson R-44
- Aircraft type
- Robinson R-44
- Category
- Helicopter
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N7184M
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Clark Regional Airport (JVY), Jeffersonville, INTo Clarksville–Montgomery County Regional Airport (CKV), Clarksville, TN
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Takeoff
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Total loss of engine power (non-mechanical)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Weather condition › Carburetor icing conditions
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
As the pilot initiated a hover, he applied full carburetor heat, and as he raised the collective for takeoff, the carburetor heat automatically dropped. He then lowered the collective, but "failed to get the carb heat needed to maintain power." The engine began to sputter, then lost power completely. The pilot then performed a full autorotation into the lake. Examination of the airplane and engine revealed no pre-impact mechanical malfunction. Additionally, the position of the carburetor heat control knob in the cockpit was extended approximately 2 inches. Temperature reported at 1655, at an airfield 25 miles to the southeast, was 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and the dew point was 32 degrees Fahrenheit, with light snow and mist. Review of an FAA carburetor icing probability chart placed the reported temperature and dew point in the "serious icing at cruise power" area of the chart.
Probable cause
The total loss of engine power due to carburetor ice.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record IAD03LA031
- Event ID
- 20030219X00233
- Case number
- IAD03LA031
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status, coordinates. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 666a620426ebca9908fd4b328235876d1efcbbf807d7f2b2b16cbdd2b3391fd9; retrieved 2026-09-22T09:37:01.906Z.