I had one in '93 in my old straight tailed 172. The carb came apart (due
to a bad overhaul ~300 hrs. prior) during a low altitude sightseeing flight.
I had to put it down in some rough terrain in the desert. Nose gear
collapsed and wing spar snapped, but no serious injuries.

Not much I would do differently today. The cause was a mechanical failure
that could not be easily detected with a visual inspection, although I do
give my carb a good yank whenever I have the cowl off these days. Since I
was a student, I've always tried to keep within gliding distance of
relatively flat ground, but realistically, that's not always possible. I
just happened to have my failure during that small window of time where I was
out of gliding range.

Here's a pic : http://members.cox.net/jgalban/id42.htm

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

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