NTSB CAROL · Event
Event CHI94DET01
Registry · N61AB
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
BLIND A ALAN KITFOX III SPEEDSTER
Year of manufacture
1992 · 2 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR 0-200 SERIES (100 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19960513
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A7EC67
Registrant of record
SCHRADER MICHAEL
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
a total loss of engine power due to carburetor icing.
Factual narrative
HISTORY OF FLIGHT
On June 12, 1994, at 1025 eastern daylight time, an Arthur Alan Blind Kit Fox III Speedster, N61AB, sustained substantial damage while during an emergency landing at the Watervliet Municipal Airport, Watervliet, Michigan. The commercial pilot was not injured. The sole passenger in the airplane received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and no flight plan was filed. The pilot reported that the engine lost power on takeoff at the end of the runway. He said the airport was surrounded by high trees and rough terrain. He turned back toward the airport and attempted to steer towards a clearing in the woods. The airplane made contact with the tops of some trees and subsequently collided with terrain.
TESTS AND RESEARCH
The engine was removed and taken to an authorized repair station for further examination. The engine was run on a test stand without any malfunction. The temperature at the time of the accident was 73 degrees F, and the dew point was 62 degrees F. This temperature/dew point combination is in the range of values known to be favorable for carburetor icing. The carburetor heat was found in the OFF position during the initial examination of the airplane. THE PILOT REPORTED THE ENGINE LOST ALL POWER DURING THE INITIAL CLIMB AFTER TAKEOFF. THE AIRPLANE WAS OVER THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY WHEN THE POWER LOSS OCCURRED, AND THE AIRPORT IS SURROUNDED BY TALL TREES AND ROUGH TERRAIN. THE PILOT TURNED BACK TOWARDS THE AIRPORT AND WAS ATTEMPTING TO MAKE A FORCED LANDING IN A CLEARING IN THE TREES. THE AIRPLANE STRUCK THE TREETOPS, AND CRASHED TO THE GROUND. THE ENGINE WAS EXAMINED AT AN AUTHORIZED REPAIR STATION. THE ENGINE RAN WITHOUT MALFUNCTION ON THE TEST STAND. THE TEMPERATURE/DEW POINT COMBINATION WAS 73/62. THIS IS IN THE AREA KNOWN TO BE FAVORABLE FOR CARBURETOR ICING. THE CARBURETOR HEAT WAS FOUND IN THE 'OFF' POSITION DURING THE INITIAL EXAMINATION OF THE AIRPLANE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1994_CHI94DET01.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (icing). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- NASA NTRS 2026 · Contractor Report (CR)
Icing Physics Studies Using the 3D SIDRM Test Article: 2023 Icing Tests Analysis
In-flight icing is an important safety issue and is a factor that affects aircraft design and performance. Newer regulations are driving a need for improvements in airframe and engine icing simulation…
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning for UAV-Assisted 5G Network Slicing: A Comparative Study of MAPPO, MADDPG, and MADQN
The growing demand for robust, scalable wireless networks in the 5G-and-beyond era has led to the deployment of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) as mobile base stations to enhance coverage in dense urb…
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
A Mathematical Model on the Temporal Dynamics of Aviation Competitive Pricing
This study investigates the competitive dynamics of airport pricing using U.S. airport data to validate the findings. It employs linear and nonlinear ordinary differential equation models to analyze t…
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Presentation
NASA Icing Update – March 2025
This NASA Icing Update was prepared for presentation to the SAE International AC-9C Inflight Icing Technology Committee. This update includes the following topics: planned Rotational Icing Scaling tes…
- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint
An energy-stable phase-field model for droplet icing simulations
A phase-field model for three-phase flows is established by combining the Navier-Stokes (NS) and the energy equations, with the Allen-Cahn (AC) and Cahn-Hilliard (CH) equations and is demonstrated ana…
- NASA NTRS 2024 · Presentation
NASA Icing Update – Oct 2024
This presentation provides a status update on select NASA icing research activities for the SAE AC-9C Icing Technical Committee Meeting on Oct 21, 2024.
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗