- Date
- April 15, 1995, 16:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Poplar Grove, IL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N6673HPiper J3C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 24, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950415008289A
- Case key
- 9869
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 student pilot's excessive throttle control and the certified flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the student. A factor in the accident was the gusty wind conditions.
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
After landing, the commercial certificated student began to turn the airplane to back taxi to the end of the runway to takeoff again by advancing the throttle and applying the left brake. As the airplane turned perpendicular to the runway, the instructor assisted the student with depressing the brake because she was having some difficulty. The throttle was forward and as the instructor released the pressure off the brake, the airplane's tail began to lift off the ground. The instructor pulled the throttle to the idle position, but the tail continued to rise. The instructor stated that it appeared that the wind got under the tail and continued to make it rise. The propeller struck the ground and the airplane became inverted.
Factual narrative
On April 15, 1995, at 1600 central daylight time, a Piper J-3 Cub, N6673H, registered to Belvidere Aviation Inc., of Popular Grove, Illinois, was substantially damaged while taxiing after landing at Belvidere Ltd Airport, Popular Grove, Illinois. Neither the certified flight instructor nor the commercial certificated student pilot reported injuries. The local 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight operated in visual meteorological conditions without flight plan.
The instructor stated that after the student pilot made a three point landing on runway 9, she began to turn the airplane to back taxi to the end of the runway to takeoff again by advancing the throttle and applying the left brake. As the airplane turned perpendicular to the runway, the instructor stated that the student had some difficultly "...getting the brake so I depressed it for her until she got it. I then released it." The throttle was still forward, and the airplane's tail began to lift off of the ground. The instructor pulled the throttle to the idle position, but he stated, "it appeared the wind got under the tail and continued to raise it." The propeller struck the ground and the airplane became inverted.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6673H
- Reported as
- Piper J3C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 19877
- Airframe hours
- 4,512
- Engine
- Continental C85-12F, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Belvidere Aviation Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 5, 1995 · 6 hours before
- Airport
- C77 · Belvidere Airport, runway 9, 2,500 × 200 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
- 25
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 443 total · 16 in this make and model · 414 as pilot in command · 79 in the last 90 days · 24 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 15 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 50 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.