Bellanca 7GCBC N4129Y

Summary

On 18 June 1988 at about 21:18 local time, a Bellanca 7GCBC registered N4129Y was involved in an accident near Livermore Falls, Maine, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

18 June 1988 at 21:18

Classification

Accident

Location

Livermore Falls, Maine, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Bellanca 7GCBC

Registration

N4129Y

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Livemore Falls → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC88FA167

2 people died.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE CITABRIA 7GCBC WAS OBSERVED TO MAKE A LOOP. THE LEFT WING BENT UPWARD AT THE STRUT ATTACH POINT AS THE AIRCRAFT WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LOOP AND RECOVERING TO LEVEL FLIGHT. THE AIRCRAFT WAS THEN OBSERVED TO DESCEND IN A RIGHT SPIRAL AND NOT RECOVER PRIOR TO CONTACT WITH THE GROUND. IMPROPER LEFT FWD WING SPAR MANUFACTURING WAS FOUND. NO PROBLEMS WERE NOTED ON THE LEFT REAR WING SPAR. THE FWD WING SPAR FAILED WITH TENSION ON THE TOP AND COMPRESSION ON THE BOTTOM. THE REAR WING SPAR HAD TENSION ON THE BOTTOM AND COMPRESSION ON THE TOP. THE LEFT WING OUTBOARD OF THE STRUT ATTACH POINT SEPARATED FROM THE AIRCRAFT PRIOR TO IMPACT. THE LEFT AILERON WAS BENT UPWARD 90 DEGREES AT THE MIDDLE HINGE POINT WHICH CORRESPONDS TO THE STRUT ATTACH POINT. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE SLOPE OF THE GRAIN ON THE FWD WING SPAR EXCEEDED SPECIFICATIONS. ALSO TWO AREAS OF POOR BONDING WERE FOUND. THE AIRCRAFT LOG BOOKS WERE NOT FOUND.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.