Cessna 140 N76688

Summary

On 18 April 2013 at about 18:30 local time, a Cessna 140 registered N76688, operated by Wiese Jerry W, was involved in an accident near Lancaster, South Carolina, 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

18 April 2013 at 18:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Lancaster, South Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Unity Aerodrome (SC76)

Coordinates

34.8025, -80.6800

Aircraft

Cessna 140

Registration

N76688

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Wiese Jerry W

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lancaster → Lancaster

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA13CA208

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s decision to land with a tailwind and his failure to turn off the carburetor heat during a go-around, which resulted in degraded engine performance and the airplane’s subsequent collision with trees at the end of the runway.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that before he departed for a local flight, the wind was “squirrelly and swapping around” and that at takeoff the wind favored runway 21. After flying for about 15 to 20 minutes, the pilot returned to the departure airport and flew over it to observe the windsock, which indicated the wind had shifted and now favored runway 3. He entered the airport traffic pattern for runway 3 and perceived that the ground speed was “a little fast” during the approach to land. He continued the approach and touched down about 1/3 down the runway and perceived that the groundspeed was now “real fast.” Because the airplane was tailwheel equipped, the pilot did not apply the brakes; instead, he added power to go around, reporting that the engine responded normally. The pilot said that the airplane barely cleared the power lines off the end of the runway with marginal airspeed, and then stalled/mushed into the trees beyond the power lines. The pilot also reported that he was not aware of any preimpact failure or malfunction that would have precluded normal operations of the airplane, engine, or engine systems. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the carburetor heat was on, the fuel selector was off, and the throttle was full forward. A weather observation taken about 23 minutes after the accident at an airport located about 13 nautical miles north of the accident airport indicated that the wind was from 200 degrees at 5 knots.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.