Aeronca 11AC N3167E

Summary

On 21 May 1994 at about 21:38 local time, a Aeronca 11AC registered N3167E was involved in an accident near Berwick, Maine, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

21 May 1994 at 21:38

Classification

Accident

Location

Berwick, Maine, United States

Nearest airport

Berwick (NONE)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Aeronca 11AC

Registration

N3167E

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC94LA088

1 person died.

The pilot's inadequate preflight which fail to detect proper operation of the elevator which resulted in the loss of control inflight. A factor is inadequate maintenance which consisted of misrigging of the elevator flight controls.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, THE AIRPLANE DESCENDED STEEPLY TO THE GROUND. THE AIRPLANE CRASHED AT THE MIDPOINT OF THE RUNWAY. THE EXAMINATION OF THE AIRPLANE REVEALED THE ELEVATOR FLIGHT CONTROLS WERE MISRIGGED AND THE ELEVATOR OPERATED IN REVERSE TO NORMAL CONTROL INPUTS. THE INSPECTION OF THE ELEVATOR TURNBUCKLE REVEALED THE SAFETY WIRE WAS TIED IN AN UNSATISFACTORY MANNER. ALSO, AN ELEVATOR CONTROL BOLT WAS INSTALLED WITH INADEQUATE CLEARANCE FROM THE AIRFRAME. THIS WAS THE FIRST FLIGHT AFTER AN ANNUAL INSPECTION. THE INSPECTION WAS DONE BY A LICENSED MECHANIC. ON THE DAY OF THE ACCIDENT, THE PILOT WORKED ON THE AIRPLANE FOR SEVERAL HOURS. SAFETY WIRE WAS FOUND INSIDE THE AIRPLANE; SCREWS AND FASTENERS WERE FOUND IN THE PILOT'S PERSONAL EFFECTS.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.