Bellanca 14-13-2 N74306

Summary

On 27 October 1996 at about 20:30 local time, a Bellanca 14-13-2 registered N74306 was involved in an accident near Smithville, Tennessee, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 October 1996 at 20:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Smithville, Tennessee, United States

Coordinates

35.9505, -85.8202

Aircraft

Bellanca 14-13-2

Registration

N74306

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Lebanon

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA97FA014

1 person died.

loss of engine power for undetermined reason(s), shortly after takeoff; and failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed, while turning in an attempt to maneuver back to the airport, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and uncontrolled descent into wooded terrain. The pilot's attempt to return to the departure airport was a probable factor.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight departed on runway 24, and shortly after crossing the end of the runway, the engine suddenly lost power. The pilot transmitted on the unicom frequency that he had a problem and was turning back. The aircraft was observed at about 200 feet agl in a steep left bank. After reaching a northeasterly heading, the nose and left wing of the aircraft dropped, and the aircraft descended nose first into a wooded area where it crashed. A postcrash fire erupted and consumed the fuselage and left wing. Postcrash examination of the aircraft showed no evidence of pre-crash mechanical failure or malfunction of the aircraft structure or flight control system. Examination of the engine and propeller showed the wooden propeller blades had no rotational damage. No evidence of pre-crash mechanical failure of the engine was found. The pilot did not have a current FAA medical certificate or current biennial flight review. The aircraft last received an annual inspection on 6/12/94.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.