Bellanca 7ECA N11860

Summary

On 12 October 1997 at about 23:40 local time, a Bellanca 7ECA registered N11860 was involved in an accident near Tracy, California, United States. 2 people were on board and one died, 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

12 October 1997 at 23:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Tracy, California, United States

Coordinates

37.7296, -121.4204

Aircraft

Bellanca 7ECA

Registration

N11860

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

LAX98FA009

1 person died.

The pilot's low operating altitude and his failure to maintain appropriate clearance during low level maneuvering flight. Contributing factors were transmission wires and the physical impairment that resulted from the effects of the over-the-counter medications found during toxicological evaluation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot took off from a local airport about 40 minutes prior to the accident. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. Family members on the ground witnessed the aircraft flying over wires, which were on the west side of the bean field during previous low passes. The same family members noticed the airplane flying from west to east while attempting to fly under a power line, which paralleled a road. The witnesses indicated that the right wing clipped the power line and the aircraft struck the ground and cartwheeled about 100 yards east of the roadway. The pilot had obtained his private pilot certificate approximately 7 months prior to the accident and had accumulated about 62 hours of documented flight time. A toxicology examination of samples from the pilot yielded positive results for Brompheniramine, Pseudoephedrine, Phenylpropanolamine, and Ephedrine. Brompheniramine commonly results in drowsiness and has a measurable effect on performance of complex cognitive and motor tasks. Pseudoephedrine, Edhedrine, and Phenylpropanolamine all usually result in increased levels of alertness.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.