Cessna 172

Full Narrative

On September 24, 2019, about 1205 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172K, N78192, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Manville, New Jersey. The student pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.

According to the student pilot, he departed with 30 gallons of fuel for a solo cross-country flight. He had calculated that the airplane's fuel consumption would be about 15 gallons for the 187 nautical-mile trip.

At the conclusion of the flight, the pilot entered the airport traffic pattern for landing. As he turned from the base leg to final approach leg of the traffic pattern, the engine started to run rough, followed shortly thereafter by a total loss of power. The pilot confirmed that the fuel selector was on "both," the mixture was rich, and the carburetor heat was on. He turned off the carburetor heat and attempted to restart the engine, but the "engine did not respond, and the propeller did not move."

The pilot determined the airplane would not reach the runway. He secured the engine and landed in the treetops. After the airplane came to a stop, he noticed branches had punctured both wings and fuel was leaking from both sides of the airplane.

Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the airplane came to rest upright in the treetops about 70 ft above the ground. After the airplane was removed from the trees, the inspector found that little or no fuel remained in the wing tanks. Fuel was present in, and sampled from, the engine fuel drain. It was blue in color, and no water or debris was present. There were no holes or other visible damage noted with the engine.
Examination of the engine revealed two pieces of debris inside the carburetor airbox downstream from the air filter element. The debris was consistent with epoxy/sealant used during repairs of the airbox. The airbox appeared to have been repaired and patched several times, and some of the sealant on the repairs appeared to be loose. When the debris was placed in the carburetor venturi for reference, it blocked about 50 to 75% of the opening.