CEN18LA199 · Aeronca 58B

The private pilot reported that, about 30 minutes after departing for a personal, local flight, he was conducting a tribute over a cemetery and noticed that the engine was not running properly, so he proceeded to fly toward an airport located about 8 nautical miles (nm) to the east. While en route to the airport, the engine stopped developing full power and had a maximum rpm of about 1,500. The airplane descended, and during the forced landing, it impacted a ditch about 3 nm from the airport, which resulted in substantial damage to the airplane. The pilot stated that he should have landed the airplane in a flat field when the opportunity was possible, instead he "kept flying into a situation where there were no options."

Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of any preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. At the time of the loss of engine power, the airplane was operating in conditions conducive to carburetor icing at glide power. The pilot reported that he was not using carburetor heat. It is likely that, during the tribute, the pilot reduced engine power, resulting in a buildup in carburetor ice, which restricted the air and fuel flow and caused the reduced engine power. When the reduced engine power condition occurred, the pilot should have identified an appropriate forced landing site; however, he chose to continue to fly the airplane to an airport located about 8 nm away. When the engine lost total power, he had to make a forced landing on unsuitable terrain.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset