- Date
- May 21, 1994, 10:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Wausaukee, WI
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N7867HPiper PA-12
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 14, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940521011879A
- Case key
- 9536
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's inadequate preflight of the airplane.
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 pilot was flying the airplane from the rear seat. He stated that after clearing the tree line on final approach, he placed the airplane into a slip to lose altitude. About twenty to thirty feet above the ground, turbulence inadvertently caused him to pull the control stick from its mounting place on the cabin floor. The airplane impacted the ground in a nose low attitude, bounced, and came to rest inverted. The pilot stated that he failed to secure the stick with the safety pin before flight. No preimpact mechanical malfunctions were reported by the pilot.
Factual narrative
On May 21, 1994, at 1030 central daylight time, a Piper PA-12, N7867H, sustained substantial damage during final approach to land on a private grass strip three miles east of Wausaukee, Wisconsin. The commercial pilot reported minor injuries, the one passenger aboard was seriously injured. The 14 CFR Part 91 flight originated from Shawano County Airport, Shawano, Wisconsin, without flight plan and operated in visual meteorological conditions.
In a written statement provided to the NTSB, the pilot said that he was flying the airplane from the rear seat. After clearing the tree line on final approach, he placed the airplane into a slip to lose altitude. About twenty to thirty feet above the ground, turbulence inadvertently caused him to pull the control stick from its mounting place on the cabin floor. The airplane impacted the ground in a nose low attitude, bounced, and came to rest inverted. The pilot stated that due to the frequent removal of the rear control stick, he failed to secure the stick with the safety pin before flight. No preimpact mechanical malfunctions were reported by the pilot.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7867H
- Reported as
- Piper PA-12
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 12-770
- Airframe hours
- 2,500
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Stanley Sieja, Jr.
- Registered owner
- Stanley Sieja, Jr.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 19, 1994 · 3 hours before
- Departed
- 3WO · Shawano, WI
- Airport
- NONE · Sieja Farm, runway 27, 1,200 × 100 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.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 46
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 6,600 total · 1,500 in this make and model · 6,300 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MNM, 75 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.