Aeronca 7CCM N308ED

Summary

On 21 June 2023 at about 12:19 local time, a Aeronca 7CCM registered N308ED was involved in an accident near Duluth, Minnesota, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

21 June 2023 at 12:19

Classification

Accident

Location

Duluth, Minnesota, United States

Nearest airport

Private strip (pvt)

Coordinates

47.1184, -91.9839

Aircraft

Aeronca 7CCM

Registration

N308ED

Category

Airplane

Year built

1946

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Duluth → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN23FA248

2 people died.

The pilot’s exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack and failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and loss of control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The accident flight was the first flight after the pilot completed an annual inspection the previous day. The pilot and passenger were completing a local flight to the pilot’s private grass strip. GPS data revealed that the airplane flew about 18 nm, then approached the grass strip and entered a left downwind for the runway. The airplane overflew the runway about 100 ft above ground level (agl) at a groundspeed of 58 mph. Near the departure end of the runway the airplane climbed and accelerated to 64 mph, then gradually slowed to 54 mph and reached a peak altitude of 240 ft agl. The airplane then made a descending left turn toward the accident site. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the outboard leading edge of the right wing exhibited aft accordion crush damage, the empennage was distorted to the right, and the engine and propeller were buried into the ground. Rotational scoring and leading edge damage was noted on both propeller blades and several tree limbs were cut by the rotating propeller blades. The examination revealed no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The flight track showing a descending left turn, the position of the wreckage, the right wing crush damage, the empennage distorted to the right, and the lack of a horizontal debris field all suggest that the airplane entered an aerodynamic stall before it impacted the ground. It is likely that the pilot exceeded the airplane’s critical angle of attack and failed to maintain proper airspeed at an altitude too low to recover, which resulted in a loss of control and impact with terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.