Flight Instructor on training flight with student reported engine power loss due to carburetor icing.

ACN 1971761 2023-01 PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior Commuter and GA Icing Incidents

Part 91

What is ASRS?

The Aviation Safety Reporting System is NASA's voluntary, confidential, non- punitive incident-reporting system, established 1976. Pilots, controllers, dispatchers, and maintenance technicians file reports describing safety- relevant events. NASA de-identifies every report before adding it to the public database. Reports are not investigated by NASA, the FAA, or the NTSB — they represent the reporter's perspective.

Pilot narrative

Verbatim from the de-identified NASA record. First-person account by the reporter. NASA strips identifying details (names, company, specific time); anonymization placeholders are ZZZ, X, Y.

Practicing low level Ground Reference Maneuevers (GRM) with student, who was having difficulty due to turbulence over trees and constantly changing reference points. Decided to head out over the coast to find small buoys and islands to do GRMs off of. Flying through small amounts of light sea scud. Did not consider Carb Icing to be a factor. CFI was distracted due to EFB troubleshooting, and Student was focusing outside on reference points. Did not notice sputtering engine until power was significantly reduced. After a 5 second reaction time, immediately ran through check list items and [requested priority] as the A/C was 600 ft. AGL over water. Regained engine power after 10-15 seconds and immediately cancelled [priority request]. Returned to airport with carb heat on and leaned mixture. Carburator icing is a real threat to Lycoming engines. PA-28-140 POH states that Carb Heat should not be applied until signs of carburator icing become apparent. In areas of likely carb ice formation, manufacturer direction should perhaps be ignored and Carb Heat applied regardless. GRM should always be performed over an area that offers survivable landing spots.

NASA classification — Anomalies

Aircraft Equipment Problem
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural
Inflight Event / Encounter

NASA classification — Assessments

Contributing Factors / Situations: Aircraft · Human Factors · Weather
Primary Problem: Human Factors

ASRS reports are voluntarily submitted, de-identified by NASA, and represent the reporter's perspective. The presence of reports on a topic cannot be used to infer prevalence in the National Airspace System. The authoritative source is the NASA ASRS Database Online at asrs.arc.nasa.gov ↗.