- Date
- March 31, 1998, 18:25 local (Apr 1, 1998, 01:25 UTC)
- Place
- Glendive, MT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4382CAeronca 7-EC
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 15, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980331005019A
- Case key
- 42770
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 delayed remedial action and his inadvertent entry into a ground loop.
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
During the landing roll in the tail wheel equipped airplane, the pilot felt that the aircraft was starting to get away from him. He attempted remedial action, but the action was taken too late to keep the aircraft from entering a ground loop.
Factual narrative
On March 31, 1998, approximately 1825 mountain standard time, an Aeronca 7-EC tail wheel airplane, N4382C, impacted the terrain during the landing roll at Dawson Community Airport, Glendive, Montana. The Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) and his passenger were not injured, but the aircraft, which was owned and operated by the passenger, received substantial damage. The local CFR Part 91 flight, which had been in the air for about 55 minutes, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT transmission.
According to the CFI, he had just landed in a calm wind when the aircraft started to get away from him. He said that he attempted to regain control, but that by the time he applied the remedial action, he was unable to keep the aircraft from ground looping. As the aircraft spun around, the wing hit the ground hard enough to cause substantial damage to the wing structure.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4382C
- Reported as
- Aeronca 7-EC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 408
- Airframe hours
- 2,037
- Engine
- Continental C90-12F, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ron Bouchard
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 20, 1998 · 3 hours before
- Departed
- GDV
- Airport
- GDV · Dawson Community Airport, runway 12, 5,704 × 100 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
- 49
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 3,233 total · 2,245 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 60 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
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 N4382C · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.