- Date
- May 20, 1996, 20:30 local (May 21, 1996, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- New Castle, PA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1536EAeronca 7EC
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report February 1, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960520037079A
- Case key
- 39186
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 failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll, which resulted in a ground swerve and an encounter with high grass and a ditch off the side of the runway.
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 stated, '. . . I touched down in the three point configuration. During the rollout, the aircraft veered to the right. I counter controlled with full left rudder and brake. Control inputs were insufficient to counter the yaw. When the right wheel struck the tall grass, the additional drag pulled the aircraft off the runway.' The airplane then encountered a ditch and was damaged. Additionally, the pilot reported that there was no malfunction with the airplane, and that the wind was light and variable.
Factual narrative
On May 20, 1996, about 2030 eastern daylight time, an Aeronca 7EC, N1536E, was substantially damaged during the landing roll at New Castle Municipal, New Castle, Pennsylvania. The airline transport pilot and passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that departed Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, about 1930. No flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
In the NTSB form 6120.1/2, the pilot stated:
After a normal visual approach in VFR conditions to runway 23, at New Castle Airport, New Castle, Pennsylvania, I touched down in the three point configuration. During the rollout, the aircraft veered to the right. I counter controlled with full left rudder and brake. Control inputs were insufficient to counter the yaw. When the right wheel struck the tall grass, the additional drag pulled the aircraft off the runway.
The pilot also reported that there were no malfunctions with the airplane, and that the winds were light and variable. The pilot's total flight experience was approximately 10,300 hours, of which 10 hours were in the accident airplane.
According to the Airport Facility Directory, runway 23 was a 4,000 foot long, 75 foot wide runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1536E
- Reported as
- Aeronca 7EC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7AC-5099
- Airframe hours
- 10,579
- Engine
- Continental C-85-12, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Alan J. Johnson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 18, 1996 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- BVI · Beaver Falls, PA
- Destination
- 2G7
- Airport
- 2G7 · New Castle Municipal, runway 23, 4,000 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 40
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 10,300 total · 10 in this make and model · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
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 N1536E · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.