Waco CTO N7446

Summary

On 7 August 2005 at about 16:15 local time, a Waco CTO registered N7446 was involved in an accident near Shelbyville, Illinois, 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

7 August 2005 at 16:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Shelbyville, Illinois, United States

Coordinates

39.4106, -88.8456

Aircraft

Waco CTO

Registration

N7446

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Shelbyville → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI05CA172

Nobody was injured.

The loss of engine power during cruise due to carburetor ice. A factor was conditions conducive to carburetor icing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The tailwheel airplane sustained substantial damage on impact with crops and terrain during a forced landing following an in-flight loss of engine power. The pilot stated, "There were only wooded areas and farm fields with near mature crops in the vicinity. My only practical choice of terrain for landing was either a generally level soy bean field or a corn field. I decided to land on a farm in a soy bean field. I made a slow landing which was appropriate to the soft and "grabby" nature of the vegetation. The landing rollout was approximately 100 feet and was straight, but at the end with the beans being full and of different heights, some around four feet tall, the uneven drag on the wings caused the plane to slowly turn to the left with the right lower wring becoming entangled in the beans. Both upper and lower wings are attached to each other through brace wires and struts and both right wings and right side of the center section were damaged. ... The airplane did not tumble, but simply stopped right side up in a slight nose down attitude. I was wearing both the seat belt and shoulder harness installed in the airplane and was not injured ... ." An examination of wreckage revealed no pre-impact anomalies. The temperature and dew point at an airport in the area was: Temperature 28 degrees C; dew point 17 degrees C. The temperature and dew point were plotted on a Transport Canada icing chart and their intersection fell in the serious icing - descent power area of the chart.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.