- Date
- February 18, 1999, 14:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Grand Rapids, MN
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N57468Bellanca 7GCBC
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 13, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990218001829A
- Case key
- 45804
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 lookout. A factor to the accident was the unmarked transmission wire.
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 practicing a short-field landing approach to the frozen lake. The pilot stated that on approach to the frozen lake he struck the unmarked transmission wires with his vertical stabilizer. The pilot stated that he retained control of the aircraft and landed on the frozen lake. The pilot did not report any engine or flight control anomalies prior to contacting the transmission wires.
Factual narrative
On February 18, 1999, at 1430 central standard time, a Bellanca 7GCBC, N57468, piloted by a commercial pilot, sustained substantial damage resulting from an in-flight collision with transmission wires while maneuvering over Prairie Lake, near Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 as a business flight. The flight was not operating on a flight plan. The pilot and one passenger reported no injuries. The flight departed Grand Rapids/Itasca County Gordon Newstrom Field, near Grand Rapids, Minnesota, at 1315, for a local flight.
According to the pilot's written statement, he was practicing a landing approach to the frozen lake. The pilot stated that on approach to the frozen lake he struck the unmarked transmission wires with his vertical stabilizer. The pilot stated that he retained control of the aircraft and landed on the frozen lake. The pilot did not report that any engine or flight control anomalies were present before the airplane contacted the transmission wires.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N57468
- Reported as
- Bellanca 7GCBC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 514-73
- Airframe hours
- 1,508
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gregory Clyde Lease
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 3, 1998 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- GPZ · MN
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
- 48
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,250 total · 800 in this make and model · 1,208 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 19 °F, dew point 5 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GPZ, 6 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.
Other investigations on N57468 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.