- Date
- May 24, 2025, 13:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Westphalia, MI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N2659EAeronca 7AC
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration, East Michigan FSDO
- Case key
- 200215
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Preliminary report
What NTSB knew early in the investigation. It may change in the final report.
On May 24, 2025, at 1300 eastern daylight time, an Aeronca 7AC, N2659E, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Westphalia, Michigan. The commercial pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations as a Part 91 personal flight. The pilot stated that he flew to Forest Hill Airport, Westphalia, Michigan, where he performed a full stop landing and taxied back on the runway for takeoff. The subsequent takeoff was normal until the airplane climbed to 100 ft above ground level, at which time the airplane experienced a total loss of engine power. The pilot then performed a forced landing to a field where the airplane touched down and nosed over due to muddy field conditions. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings. The airplane was retained from further examination.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2659E
- Reported as
- Aeronca 7AC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7AC-6241
- Built
- 1946
- Airframe hours
- 5,641.89
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Other
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 14, 2025
- Airport
- 3F5 · Forest Hill Airport, runway 27, 2,070 × 80 ft, grass/turf
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.
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.23 inHg
- Observed at
- LAN, 9 nm away
Other investigations on N2659E · 3
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.