Aeronca 7AC N3370E

Summary

On 9 May 2009 at about 22:38 local time, a Aeronca 7AC registered N3370E, operated by First Flight Corp, was involved in an accident near El Cajon, California, United States. 2 people were 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

9 May 2009 at 22:38

Classification

Accident

Location

El Cajon, California, United States

Nearest airport

Gillespie Field (SEE)

Coordinates

32.8261, -116.9725

Aircraft

Aeronca 7AC

Registration

N3370E

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

First Flight Corp

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Diego → El Cajon

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR09CA280

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control while landing with gusting crosswinds.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight school's operations manager reported that the pilot was previously checked out in the accident model of airplane, and he was authorized to rent the airplane. On the day of the accident flight, the pilot and passenger departed for a planned local area flight to a neighboring airport. Air traffic control tower personnel reported that the pilot's landing approach to Runway 27L was uneventful. During the landing roll out, the airplane veered to the left of the runway. The pilot applied rudder pressure to correct the airplane's course, and the airplane veered to the right. The airplane departed the runway and contacted a 6-foot drainage ditch. The conventional landing gear sheared off, a wing lift strut bent, a wing impacted the ground, and structural tube frames/longerons in the airplane's belly were deformed upward. The pilot did not report experiencing any mechanical malfunction with the airplane during the accident flight. He stated that during the landing he had encountered a wind gust, which blew the airplane to the side of the runway. In taking corrective action to realign the airplane, he "reacted...too much." At 1539, the airport reported its surface wind was from 240 degrees at 10 knots, with 15-knot gusts.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.