Originally published at: NTSB Report: Carb Ice Cited in Colorado Tecnam Crash
NTSB says failure to apply carb heat led to partial power loss, highway landing.
Personally, not a big fan of the Rotax engine. To me its to “light weight”. It needs to be “burped” prior to start, takeoff RPM is like 5,800, cruse 5,500 RPM and needs a gearbox for the prop. Its “best” attribute is fuel economy. Give me a direct drive Lyc or Continental anytime.
Also get a lot of carb ice on Continentals. Carb heat is there for a reason.
Was there any information available about what type of fuel that was used? Rotax engine may operate on MOGAS, a fuel that does not give the same protection against carburettor icing as AVGAS.
A flight instructor did this? Did he also use the carburetor heat lever as a hat rack?
We fly Rotax 912 with dual carbs in our Tecnam P92s and Vans RV-12s–and there is no carb heat. We have had little problem with carb ice, however. IMHO it is because the carbs are on top of the engine. Amazing that the instructor was shutting down an engine–and that the aircraft would not fly on one engine. Sigh. At least they survived–but our insurance rates go up and up.
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