Piper J3C-65 N98656

Summary

On 3 May 2015 at about 16:15 local time, a Piper J3C-65 registered N98656, operated by Joseph A. Begany, was involved in an accident near De Kalb, 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

3 May 2015 at 16:15

Classification

Accident

Location

De Kalb, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

De Kalb Taylor Municipal (KDKB)

Coordinates

41.9339, -88.7056

Aircraft

Piper J3C-65

Registration

N98656

Category

Airplane

Year built

1946

Engines

1

Operator

Joseph A. Begany

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Monroe → De Kalb

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN15CA223

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's loss of positional awareness while taxiing, resulting in a collision with a parked and unoccupied airplane. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's difficulty seeing over the nose of the airplane, his preoccupation with trying to control the airplane in the wind, and his minimal experience in the airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot, who was in the rear tandem seat of the tailwheel airplane, had just landed and was taxing to the fuel pumps to refuel. He did not see the parked Beech A36 over the nose of his airplane and collided with the right wing of N4678A. The pilot said the accident could have been prevented if he had followed the taxi line on the tarmac. He also blamed his "less than effective brakes" that didn't help as he tried to control the airplane in the wind. This caused his attention to be diverted and he lost sight of the surrounding obstructions. The pilot had logged a total of 82 flight hours, of which 13 hours were in the accident airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.