Event WPR20LA126

Factual narrative

On April 19, 2020, about 1040 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 152 airplane N6306P, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Corona, California. The private pilot and passenger were seriously injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. The passenger reported he left the airplane before the flight for a period of time and did not see the pilot perform a preflight inspection before the pilot started and taxied uneventfully. He recalled a runup was conducted and no anomalies were noted. The airplane took off and made left turns around the traffic pattern, it touched down onto the runway surface and took off again. Shortly after turning onto the crosswind leg of the traffic pattern the pilot stated, "oh we are going down". The passenger, who was managing Foreflight on his tablet, looked up confused and, within about 10 seconds, they impacted something and came to rest upside down on a roadway. Due to noise cancelling headphones, he did not hear the engine quit nor did he hear it make any abnormal noises or sputters. The pilot/owner reported that he only recalls about 3 seconds of the accident flight. He recalls being in a right turn then he felt his body being forced about. He recently purchased the airplane as a wreck with the intention to rebuild and sell it. The airplane needed extensive work and has flown a total of four short flights since it was rebuilt. He mentioned that he recently found quite a bit of water in the fuel system after a storm came through. After sumping the entire fuel system and carburetor, he discovered that the fuel tank filler neck screws were too small. After replacing the screws, more storms passed through the area. He did not sump the fuel system prior to the accident flight and recalled asking the passenger to conduct the preflight inspection. According to the Federal Aviation Administration carburetor icing chart, the temperature/dewpoint spread at the time of the accident was on the border of serious icing conditions at glide power and serious icing conditions at cruise power. When asked, the pilot reported that he does not often use the carburetor heat. Postaccident examination did not reveal any anomalies with the airframe or engine. The engine was rotated by hand and thumb compression was established on all cylinders. The magnetos were rotated, and spark was produced throughout. The spark plugs were removed and exhibited signatures consistent with normal operations. Air was blown through the fuel system and all lines were clear of debris. The carburetor bowl was mostly fractured from the carburetor; the bowl was empty, and the floats were clear of liquid. The fuel strainer was removed and about a thimble of water was found in the bowl. The throttle and mixture were observed full forward and the carburetor heat control was found in the OFF position. The pilot and passenger were conducting touch-and-go landings and had just turned crosswind when the pilot stated, "oh we are going down." The passenger, who was occupied with an electronic device, looked up and within about 10 seconds they impacted terrain and came to rest upside down on a roadway. Due to noise cancelling headphones, the passenger did not hear the engine quit, nor did he hear it make any abnormal noises or sputters. The pilot did not recall the accident flight. Postaccident examination did not reveal any anomalies with the airframe or engine; however, the fuel system was compromised due to damage which prevented a full evaluation. The carburetor heat control was found in the OFF position. The pilot recently purchased the airplane as a wreck with the intention to rebuild and sell it. The airplane needed extensive work and had flown a total of four short flights since it was rebuilt. He recently found water in the fuel system after a storm. After sumping the entire fuel system and carburetor, he discovered that the fuel tank filler neck screws were too small. After replacing the screws, more storms passed through the area. He did not sump the fuel system prior to the accident flight. Neither the pilot nor passenger performed a preflight inspection, because both thought the other was going to conduct the inspection. The weather conditions at the time of the accident were conducive to serious carburetor icing. The pilot reported that he does not often use the carburetor heat. Despite the airplane being recently rebuilt and recent history of water in the fuel system, the postaccident engine examination only found about one thimble of water in the fuel strainer, which would not be enough to cause a rough running engine. Although no preflight was conducted and a full evaluation of the fuel system could not be conducted, it is likely the engine lost power due to carburetor icing because the pilot did not use carburetor heat during flight in conditions conducive to serious carburetor icing. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• C Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Ice/rain protection system-Intake anti-ice, deice-Not used/operated
• C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Lack of action-Pilot
• — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Temp/humidity/pressure-Conducive to carburetor icing-Effect on equipment