Cessna 170B N2416D

Summary

On 5 July 1997 at about 02:00 local time, a Cessna 170B registered N2416D was involved in an accident near Karlin, Michigan, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 July 1997 at 02:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Karlin, Michigan, United States

Coordinates

44.6400, -85.8302

Aircraft

Cessna 170B

Registration

N2416D

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Interlochen → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

CHI97LA194

2 people died.

the pilot's impairment of judgment and performance due to alcohol, his resultant improper planning/decision, and his inadequate visual lookout while buzzing, which resulted in failure to see-and-avoid the top (ground/static) wires of an electrical power line.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Witnesses observed the airplane flying at low altitude. One witness said the pilot made 3 low passes over or near her home. She said the airplane '...pulled straight up...' and eventually leveled off during the third pass. Another witness observed the airplane pass by the front of (his) house below 100 feet AGL. He said the engine was not sputtering and '...appeared to be functioning properly.' Subsequently, the airplane struck the top (ground) wires of a high tension electrical power line. Shortly after the collision, it impacted a dirt road beneath the wires and began burning. An on-scene examination revealed no anomalies with the flight controls or engine that would have prevented flight. Two ground wires were entangled in the wreckage. Toxicology tests detected ethanol in the pilot's blood at a level of 141.000 mg/dL (0.141%) and in the vitreous fluid at 163 mg/dl (0.163%). Testing also detected tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid (an inactive metabolite of marijuana) in the pilot's blood at a level of 0.002 mcg/ml.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.