Aeronca 7AC N83136

Summary

On 26 December 2001 at about 23:10 local time, a Aeronca 7AC registered N83136 was involved in an accident near Winters, California, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

26 December 2001 at 23:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Winters, California, United States

Coordinates

38.5600, -121.9895

Aircraft

Aeronca 7AC

Registration

N83136

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Petaluma → Novato

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX02LA058

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the pilot to retard the engine throttle to idle while hand-propping the engine, which resulted in the engine starting at full (takeoff) power and the airplane taking off with no one aboard.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot "propped" (hand started) the engine and the airplane subsequently took off with no one aboard and crashed in nearby mountains about 2 hours later. The aircraft was not equipped with an electric starter motor and the pilot normally and routinely started it by hand-propping. The pilot (who was alone) stood behind the propeller when pulling on it. He reported that, after propping the engine about 4 times without achieving engine start, he perceived the engine was flooded and returned to the cockpit where he turned the magneto switch from "both" to "off" and advanced the throttle to the full throttle position. He then turned the engine backwards 10 revolutions. He next returned to the cockpit again and turned the magneto switch back to the "both" position; however, he forgot to retard the throttle back to the idle position. When he next propped the engine it started at maximum power. The pilot attempted to restrain the airplane but was unable to do so and the airplane moved forward and took off with no one aboard. The airplane was located the following morning about 45 miles northeast of the departure point, having crashed in mountainous terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.