Aeronca 65-TC N29416

Summary

On 12 July 2000 at about 16:30 local time, a Aeronca 65-TC registered N29416, operated by Thomas K. Buchanan, III, was involved in an accident near Harris, North Carolina, 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.

Date

12 July 2000 at 16:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Harris, North Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Boomerang Airport (NC02)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Aeronca 65-TC

Registration

N29416

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Thomas K. Buchanan, III

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Caroleen

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA00LA220

Nobody was injured.

The unsuitable terrain encountered by the pilot while descending for a forced landing. Contributing to the accident was the partial loss of engine power due a blocked fuel line resulting in fuel starvation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot flew to a nearby airport, landed, remained on the ground with the engine running, then elected to depart. During the initial climb about 50-100 feet agl, the engine experienced a loss of power. Unable to maintain altitude he maneuvered towards a sandbar in a river and while descending to fly beneath a trestle bridge that was between his location and the sandbar, the airplane collided with a wire beneath the bridge. The airplane veered to the right, descended and impacted with 'scrub trees/saplings' on a side of the river. Examination of the airplane revealed 'rust' from a fuel line between the header tank and the fuel shut-off valve. Removal of the rust revealed an increase in fuel flow to the carburetor. Cold differential compression testing of each cylinder revealed no cylinder was greater than 52 psi when using 80 psi as a reference. The last annual inspection occurred on February 3, 2000; the airplane had accumulated approximately 20 hours since then. No inspections were recorded between a periodic inspection on June 8, 1963, and an annual inspection December 12, 1994. The December 1994 entry indicates, 'Assembled aircraft after long term storage....' No record of fuel lines was noted.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.