# NTSB IAD96LA042: Aeronca 11AC, Cynthiana, KY, February 17, 1996 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: February 17, 1996, 15:20 local (20:20 UTC) - Place: Cynthiana, KY - Coordinates: 38.379364, -84.290451 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=38.3794&lon=-84.2905&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Standing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/150) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report March 31, 1998 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB case key (mKey): 28022 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=IAD96LA042 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/28022/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/IAD96LA042 ## Probable cause The pilot's failure to obtain proper assistance to secure the airplane. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Loss of control - on ground/water, standing - starting engine(s) - proper assistance - not obtained, pilot in command (cause) - On ground/water collision with object, standing - starting engine(s) ## Analysis The pilot stated that the airplane, which was manufactured in 1946, did not have an electrical starting system, so he attempted to start the engine by hand propping it. The pilot reported that a local gentleman held the tail of the airplane to secure it during the engine start-up. When he rotated the propeller by hand to start the engine, the engine idled for a few seconds, '...then roared up.' The airplane began to accelerate forward and impacted a cement pillar and a fuel pump. The pilot and the gentleman holding the tail were unable to control the airplane. ## Factual narrative On February 17, 1996, at about 1520 eastern standard time, an Aeronca 11AC, CFLBW, registered to a private owner, was substantially damaged when the private pilot attempted to start the airplane by rotating the propeller by hand (hand propping.) The unoccupied airplane accelerated and collided with a fuel pump at Cynthiana Harrison County Airport, Cynthiana, Kentucky. There were no injuries to the private pilot, or to personnel on the ground. The flight was to be conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions existed and no flight plan had been filed. The airplane had recently been sold and was being ferried from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to Louisa County/Freeman Field in Virginia. The pilot stated that he landed at Cynthiana, Kentucky to refuel the airplane for the next leg of the ferry flight. He stated that since the airplane, which was manufactured in 1946, had no electrical starting system, hand propping was the method used to start the engine. The pilot reported that, "...with a local gentleman holding the tail on the left hand side, I primed it, pulled through (turning the [propeller] with [magnetos] off to suck fuel into the cylinders) then started it. It idled for a few seconds, then roared up." The private pilot wrote that the airplane began to accelerate forward and he tried to grab the strut to help control the airplane. The pilot and the gentleman at the tail of the airplane were unable to stop the airplane. The airplane's right wing hit a cement pole adjacent to the fuel pump. The airplane turned and collided with the fuel pump; the top half of the fuel pump was damaged. There was no claim of preimpact mechanical malfunction. ## Aircraft - Registration: CFLBW (not matched to a registry record) - Reported make and model: Aeronca 11AC - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 11AC-869 - Airframe hours: 1200 - Engines: Continental A65 65 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Ferry, Part 91 - Registered owner: Ernest D. Kiss - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, December 2, 1995 - Airport: 018, Cynthiana Harrison County ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 20; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 3, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; seat: left; flight hours: 226 total, 51 in this make and model, 143 as pilot in command, 81 in the last 90 days, 59 in the last 30 days, 7 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 280° at 11 knots, gusting 17 - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 6,000 ft overcast - Temperature: 36 °F, dew point 18 °F - Altimeter: 29.00 inHg - Observed at: LEX, 25 nm away From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.