- Date
- October 1, 1992, 16:30 local (Oct 2, 1992, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Eureka, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N4392CChampion 7EC
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 9, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19921001039929A
- Case key
- 5841
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot-in command's inadequate preflight inspection which resulted in a power loss due to ice in the fuel system.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
A ferry pilot and the purchaser of the airplane arrived to accept it from the seller and found the engine already running. The aircraft had sat outdoors with empty fuel tanks for 3 mos. The engine reportedly backfired several times, and quit once, during runup. There was reportedly no inspection to determine the source of engine roughness. The seller reportedly told the buyer that the engine is typically 'cold starting.' The ferry pilot then took off and experienced an abrupt power loss at 150 ft, and the airplane crashed during the forced landing. The pilot stated that the temperature at the time of takeoff was 'right at freezing.'
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4392C
- Reported as
- Champion 7EC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 421
- Airframe hours
- 1,232
- Engine
- Continental C-90, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- Unknown
- Flight
- Ferry · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Richard Gray
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 7, 1992 · 1 hours before
- Destination
- MLY · Manley Hot Spgs, AK
- Airport
- Private Strip, runway 36, 700 × 25 ft, dirt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 48
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,454 total · 1 in this make and model · 1,399 as pilot in command · 87 in the last 90 days · 27 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 45° at 5 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.