- Date
- July 27, 1989, 07:15 local (11:15 UTC)
- Place
- Homestead, FL
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N60FUAeronca 7AC
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 9, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890727025479A
- Case key
- 32471
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
Improper repair of the fuel cap (seal) by the pilot, which resulted in a blocked fuel system (cap) vent and subsequent fuel starvation, and his failure to see-and-avoid the telephone line. The telephone (transmission) line was a contributing factor.
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
As the plt was returning to land at his airstrip, the eng lost power from fuel starvation. Subsequently, during an apch for a forced lndg, the acft collided with a telephone line, then crashed to the ground. The plt stated that before the flt, he had replaced the fuel cap seal. When the fuel cap was removed after the acdnt to check for fuel, a rush of air was noted (indicating that drg flt, the fuel tank had not vented thru the cap, as required).
Aircraft
- Registration
- N60FU
- Reported as
- Aeronca 7AC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7AC-2432
- Engine
- Continental C-65-8, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Neubauer, Richard L.
- Registered owner
- Nevbaver, Richard L III
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 6X6 · Homestead, FL
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
- 66
- Certificates
- Flight engineer, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 33,000 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 20,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TMB, 13 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.