ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 148265
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| Date: | Saturday 1 September 2012 |
| Time: | 08:30 |
| Type: |  Aeronca 7AC Champion |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N82383 |
| MSN: | 7AC-1016 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1946 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 2419 hours |
| Engine model: | Continental A&C65 SERIES |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Near the Brighton airport - 45G, Brighton, MI -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Brighton, MI (45G) |
| Brighton, MI (45G) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Witnesses observed the airplane make a normal engine run-up before takeoff followed by a normal takeoff from the runway. Shortly after takeoff, the engine did not sound like it was developing full power, and the airplane was struggling to climb. Subsequently, the airplane made a 180-degree turn and then descended toward terrain in a nose-down attitude. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical failures or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Although the weather conditions at the time of takeoff were conducive to the formation of carburetor ice at glide and cruise power, it could not be determined whether carburetor ice was a factor in the loss of engine power. It is likely that the pilot failed to maintain airspeed during the turn back to the airport, which resulted in a stall.
Postaccident examination of the airframe revealed that the pilot’s shoulder harness failed during the accident. Material examination of the shoulder harness webbing and stitching showed that they failed due to an overload event. The occupants’ injuries suggest that both occupants were using the four-point shoulder harnesses at the time of the accident and were exposed to strong deceleration forces. If the pilot’s shoulder harness had not failed, he likely would not have suffered the brain injury he received, which caused permanent disability. However, it is possible that an intact shoulder harness could have led to more severe chest, abdominal, or cervical injuries. The investigation could not determine whether the pilot would have died or sustained a permanent disability from some other injury if the shoulder harness had remained intact.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed following a partial loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined during postaccident examination, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and loss of airplane control. Contributing to the severity of the pilot’s head injuries was the failure of the shoulder harness assembly.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
FAA register: https://whmi.com/
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2012/09/01/news/doc50421a583231d291884857.txt
http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20120901/NEWS/309010013/Plane-crash-near-Brighton-airport-kills-1-injures-1?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFrontpage
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=82383
http://www.aeroncapilots.com/ConvPics/NAC15Planes/images/_DSC7303.jpg
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 01-Sep-2012 08:00 | gerard57 | Added |
| 01-Sep-2012 14:43 | Geno | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 02-Sep-2012 01:24 | Alpine Flight | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 02-Sep-2012 01:49 | Anon. | Updated [Location] |
| 02-Sep-2012 03:10 | Mike | Updated [[Location]] |
| 02-Sep-2012 03:10 | harro | Updated [Narrative] |
| 02-Sep-2012 03:36 | Alpine Flight | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:28 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 28-Nov-2017 13:24 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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