Aeronca 7DC N4484E

Summary

On 31 March 1998 at about 18:00 local time, a Aeronca 7DC registered N4484E was involved in an accident near Wright, Wyoming, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

31 March 1998 at 18:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Wright, Wyoming, United States

Coordinates

43.7498, -105.4907

Aircraft

Aeronca 7DC

Registration

N4484E

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Gillette → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW98LA169

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's use of unsuitable terrain for takeoff. Factors were snow and rock covered terrain, inadequate aircraft preflight, improper aircraft servicing, and the fuel contaminated by water.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After about 2 hours of flight, the aircraft was in cruise at 100 feet agl when the engine lost all power. The pilot landed in a field and drained water from the fuel. When he got the engine restarted, he attempted to take off, and during his takeoff roll the main landing gear entered a snow-covered area and the aircraft swerved into rocks. The pilot said that between flights he stored the aircraft with partially filled tanks in an area with high temperature variations over a 24-hour period. This practice enhances distillation of water in the tanks due to condensation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.