Bellanca 7ECA N8679V

Summary

On 28 August 2023 at about 18:00 local time, a Bellanca 7ECA registered N8679V was involved in an accident near Hopkinsville, Kentucky, 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

28 August 2023 at 18:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Hopkinsville, Kentucky, United States

Nearest airport

Hopkinsville-Christian County (HVC)

Coordinates

36.8570, -87.4551

Aircraft

Bellanca 7ECA

Registration

N8679V

Category

Airplane

Year built

1975

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Union City

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA23LA353

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s inadvertent encounter with helicopter wake turbulence during initial climb, which resulted in a loss of airplane control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that, before departing in his tailwheel-equipped airplane, a U.S. Army CH-47 heavy-lift helicopter departed and proceeded upwind. When the helicopter was established on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, the pilot initiated his takeoff. At 40 ft above ground level in the initial climb, the airplane “hit the helicopter’s rotor wash” which rolled the airplane “about 135 degrees to its right.” The pilot was able to level the wings before the airplane touched down in low brush to the right of the runway and came to rest near the airport boundary fence. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the main landing gear support structure and the pilot deplaned uninjured. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.