Piper J3C-65 N91915

Summary

On 24 December 1997 at about 19:50 local time, a Piper J3C-65 registered N91915 was involved in an accident near Stoil, California, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 December 1997 at 19:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Stoil, California, United States

Coordinates

35.8592, -119.4610

Aircraft

Piper J3C-65

Registration

N91915

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tulare → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX98LA054

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate obstacle clearance and his inadequate visual outlook.. Factors were a severed fuel line which resulted in an in-flight fire, which diminished the pilot's ability to land the airplane with smoke and fire in the cockpit.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot desired to become an agricultural pilot and was practicing low passes over a field. The pilot failed to see three power transmission cables and the airplane struck a 300-foot-span of number 8 gauge copper conductor suspended about 45 to 50 feet above the ground with its propeller. An in-flight fire erupted in the cockpit area. The fire was located at a break in a fuel line from the fuel selector valve to the engine. The pilot suffered second and third degree burns to his face, arms, and left leg and landed the airplane hard, collapsing one of the main landing gear. He egressed the airplane unaided while the fire spread destroying the airplane. There was no evidence of mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane before the collision with power transmission cables.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.