- Date
- July 17, 1998, 20:20 local (Jul 18, 1998, 01:20 UTC)
- Place
- Blue Springs, NE
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N9156EAeronca 11BC
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 19, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980717026569A
- Case key
- 43092
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 visual outlook to avoid impact with a wire. Factors were sunglare and the wire (static).
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 said that he was maneuvering at low altitude to look at crops. He said that during a turn to the west his forward visibility was hampered by sunglare. The airplane impacted a wire and control was lost. The pilot said that he did not see the wire prior to impact with it.
Factual narrative
On July 17, 1998, at 2020 central daylight time, an Aeronca 11BC, N9156E, operated by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage during impact with wires and the terrain, five and one-half miles east of Blue Springs, Nebraska. The pilot said that he was looking at his crops at the time of the accident. The pilot received serious injuries. The personal 14 CFR Part 91 flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan was on file. The flight departed a private airport near Beatrice, Nebraska, at 2000.
The pilot said that his forward visibility was limited while he was headed west into the sun. He said he did not see the wire prior to impact. The pilot did not indicate any mechanical problem with the airplane during the accident flight.
A post accident examination of the wreckage did not reveal any pre-impact anomalies with the airplane. Although the airplane was originally delivered with only a lap belt, it had been retrofitted with a shoulder harness which the pilot was using, at the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9156E
- Reported as
- Aeronca 11BC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 11AC-790
- Airframe hours
- 1,057
- Engine
- Continental A-65-8, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ernest L. Norris
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 12, 1997 · 18 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Beatrice, NE
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
- 52
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 962 total · 718 in this make and model · 878 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BIE, 11 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.