- Date
- September 25, 2001, 10:20 local (15:20 UTC)
- Place
- Clear Lake, MN
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N81910Aeronca 7EC
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 4, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA-Minneapolis, Minnesota FSDO
- FAA report
- 20010925025149A
- Case key
- 53561
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 not maintaining directional control of the airplane during the takeoff. A factor was the soybean crop.
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
The aircraft went off of the left side of the runway during takeoff and nosed over. The pilot said in a written report, "I started the take off on the paved runway, which is 25 feet wide. The airplane veered to the left shortly after the tail came up and although I was using full right rudder, I was not able to straighten the airplane out. I got about a foot high and I was in a soybean field adjacent to runway 36. I attempted to correct the direction but hit first the right wheel and then the left wheel. When the left wheel hit, we ground looped. During the ground loop the airplane flipped over and the left wing was broken. The ground is relatively level at the airport and the 25 foot wide paved runway is located in the center of the 3000 foot by 150 foot runway 18-36." The pilot listed no mechanical malfunctions or failures is his report. No anomalies were found with respect to the airplane that could be associated with a pre-impact condition.
Factual narrative
On September 25, 2001, at 1020 central daylight time, an Aeronca 7EC, N81910, piloted by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage during takeoff at the Leaders Clear Lake Airport, Clear Lake, Minnesota. The aircraft departed the west side of runway 36 (3,000 feet by 150 feet, asphalt/turf) and nosed over. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was on a visual flight rules flight plan and was operating in visual meteorological conditions. The pilot and one passenger reported no injuries. The flight was originating at the time of the accident and was bound for the Sleepy Eye Municipal Airport, Sleepy Eye, Minnesota.
The pilot said in a written report, "I started the take off on the paved runway, which is 25 feet wide. The airplane veered to the left shortly after the tail came up and although I was using full right rudder, I was not able to straighten the airplane out. I got about a foot high and I was in a soybean field adjacent to runway 36. I attempted to correct the direction but hit first the right wheel and then the left wheel. When the left wheel hit, we ground looped. During the ground loop the airplane flipped over and the left wing was broken. The ground is relatively level at the airport and the 25 foot wide paved runway is located in the center of the 3000 foot by 150 foot runway 18-36." The pilot listed no mechanical malfunctions or failures is his report.
No anomalies were found with respect to the airplane that could be associated with a pre-impact condition.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N81910
- Reported as
- Aeronca 7EC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7AC-533
- Airframe hours
- 1,882
- Engine
- Continental C-90-12, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Mark S. Jeffries
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 3, 2001 · 40 hours before
- Departed
- 8Y6 · Clear Lake, MN
- Destination
- Y58 · Sleepy Eye, MN
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- 8Y6 · Leaders Clear Lake, runway 36, 3,000 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- November 5, 2000
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 336 total · 32 in this make and model · 248 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.37 inHg
- Observed at
- STC, 7 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.