Plane Crash List

Waco UPF-7 N30136

12 July 1997 · Springfield, Illinois, United States · No injuries

Summary

On 12 July 1997 at about 23:15 local time, a Waco UPF-7 registered N30136 was involved in an accident near Springfield, Illinois, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

The record

Date
at 23:15
Classification
Accident
Location
Springfield, Illinois, United States
Nearest airport
Springfield Capital (SPI)
Coordinates
Not recorded
Aircraft
Waco UPF-7
Registration
N30136
Category
Airplane
Engines
1
Operator
Not recorded
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Unknown
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Aircraft damage
Substantial
Weather
VMC
Light
Day
NTSB number
CHI97LA211

People

Nobody was injured.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
1 0 0 0 1

Probable cause

failure of the pilot to maintain safe altitude/clearance from the terrain. Factors relating to this accident were: the hazy weather condition, the resultant difficulty in keeping the other airplane in sight, and the pilot's diverted attention, while looking for the other airplane during the airshow routine.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot said that he was performing an airshow routine with another airplane. He had just come across the top of a '1/2 cuban eight' maneuver, and visually located the other airplane, as he was maneuvering for an opposing pass. He stated, 'Descending back to show center, I lost sight of the other airplane due to my top wing being in my line of sight.' The pilot visually searched for the other airplane. He said, 'Due to the time of day, haze and color of the other airplane, I didn't pick him up. At one instant, something caught my eye. I glanced up, and the next instant, touched down on a slight descent at about 160 miles per hour. The long rigid [landing] gear collapsed easily. I pulled the airplane back into the air, made a slight right turn to line up on runway 13 and landed.' Examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

Other Waco UPF-7 accidents

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
14 Jan 1997 Waco UPF-7
N29986
Sanibel, Florida, United States - No injuries -
3 Aug 1998 Waco UPF-7
N29927
Key West, Florida, United States - Minor injuries -
25 May 1996 Waco UPF-7
N32091
East Canton, Pennsylvania, United States - Minor injuries -
29 Sep 1995 Waco UPF-7
N167K
Staten Island, New York, United States - No injuries -
18 Aug 1995 Waco UPF-7
N134Q
Anchorage, Alaska, United States Classic Air Ventures Serious injuries -
22 Apr 1995 Waco UPF-7
N20971
Chino, California, United States - No injuries -

All 86 records for this type

Other accidents in this area

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
3 Jul 1997 Snow S2C
N1684S
Viola, Illinois, United States - No injuries -
27 Jul 1997 Kearns RV-6
N35K
Harrisburg, Illinois, United States - Minor injuries -
5 Aug 1997 Champion 7KCAB
N5066X
Hampshire, Illinois, United States - No injuries -
16 Aug 1997 Piper PA-25-235
N9781P
Hinckley, Illinois, United States - Minor injuries -
20 Aug 1997 Cessna P210
N44C
Grayslake, Illinois, United States - Minor injuries -
18 May 1997 Piper PA-38-112
N383AV
Savoy, Illinois, United States - Fatal 1

All 170,864 records in United States