- Date
- September 5, 1994, 17:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Cassoday, KS
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N82114Aeronca 7BCM
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 19, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940905024959A
- Case key
- 9665
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 attempted low level flight/maneuver with inadequate visual lookout by the pilot-in-command.
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 stated that while on a local cross country flight he saw a northbound freight train and decided to follow it. He said he intercepted the tracks south of the train, lined up with the tracks, and descended. He said he saw power lines at eye level and attempted to pull up, but the wires caught on the main landing gear, and flipped the airplane to the ground inverted.
Factual narrative
On September 5, 1994 about 1730 central daylight time, an Aeronca 7BCM, N82114, crashed after it struck power lines near Cassoday, Kansas. The airplane was destroyed, and the private pilot, who was the sole occupant, was seriously injured. The personal flight originated at the Newton-City-County Airport, Newton, Kansas at 1645, with an intended destination of the Captain Jack Thomas/El Dorado Airport, El Dorado, Kansas. No flight plan was filed, and visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time.
The pilot stated he sighted a freight train moving northbound near El Dorado Lake and decided to follow it. After lining up with the railroad tracks and descending, he said he saw some power lines at eye level. He stated he attempted to pull up but the lines caught on the landing gear and flipped the airplane onto the track ballast inverted.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N82114
- Reported as
- Aeronca 7BCM
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7AC-740
- Airframe hours
- 1,650
- Engine
- Continental C-90-8FJ, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Terence G. Gandy
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 21, 1994 · 21 hours before
- Departed
- EWK · Newton, KS
- Destination
- EQA · El Dorado, KS
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
- 38
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 150 total · 62 in this make and model · 130 as pilot in command · 19 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ICT, 30 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.