- Date
- April 20, 1991, 12:40 local (19:40 UTC)
- Place
- Elma, WA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N81578Aeronca 7BCM
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 8, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910420011549A
- Case key
- 41419
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 used inadequate starting procedures. Factors to the accident were: the pilot did not use proper assistance and the passenger's inadvertent control interference.
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
At the beginning of a flight, the pilot reported that he had placed chocks in front of the main landing gear and returned to the cockpit to turn on the fuel. The pilot then proceeded to the propeller to pull the engine through. As the pilot turned the propeller, the engine started at a high RPM and the aircraft jumped the chocks. The pilot tried to hang onto the right wing as it swung around once, missing the fuel pumps and a parked Piper. The aircraft came around for the second time and collided into the right side of the Piper.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N81578
- Reported as
- Aeronca 7BCM
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7AC-197
- Engine
- Continental A-65-9, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Michael A. Perdue
- Registered owner
- Michael A. Perdue
- Destination
- SHN · Shelton, WA
- Airport
- WA22 · Elma
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
- 39
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 192 total · 59 in this make and model · 116 as pilot in command · 45 in the last 90 days · 29 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 35 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.