Cessna 177 N34200

Summary

On 7 April 2006 at about 19:40 local time, a Cessna 177 registered N34200 was involved in an accident near Blackburn, Missouri, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 April 2006 at 19:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Blackburn, Missouri, United States

Coordinates

39.1008, -93.4397

Aircraft

Cessna 177

Registration

N34200

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Aerial Observation

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lawrence → Osage City

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI06LA105

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain obstacle clearance from the power line during low altitude maneuvering. A factor was the power line.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was conducting a pipeline patrol when it hit a power line and subsequently impacted the terrain. A witness reported that she observed the airplane flying west, paralleling Highway 20 at a low altitude. It was about two power line poles in height above the ground and the airplane was flying slow. The witness reported, "All of a sudden, the left wing went down and the right wing went up." The witness described the angle of bank as a perpendicular position, a 90-degree vertical bank. The airplane turned left into a gully and the left wing impacted the top wire of a power line. The inspection of the wreckage revealed that the outboard portion of the left wing at the aileron/flap juncture had separated at a 45-degree angle. A downed power line wire was found tangled in the wreckage. The post accident inspection of the airplane revealed no preexisting anomalies that could be associated with a pre-impact condition. An on-site inspection of the accident site revealed that 35 to 40 feet tall power lines provided power to several nearby residential customers. A power line crossed the highway near the site of the accident. There were no other power lines observed in the area that crossed the highway. The power line the airplane impacted paralleled the south (left) side of the highway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.