The pilot had just completed an annual inspection on the Aeronca 7CCM the day before the accident. Family and coworkers of the pilot stated that he was likely flying to his private airstrip to view the area.
Data from the pilot’s handheld GPS revealed that after departure, the airplane proceeded northeast about 18 nm to the pilot’s private grass airstrip near Duluth, Minnesota. It approached from the south and entered a left downwind for the east runway.
The plane overflew the runway about 100 feet AGL and 58 mph groundspeed.
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 of 240 feet AGL. The airplane then made a descending left turn toward the accident site.
The pilot and passenger were fatally injured in the crash.
The wreckage was located in a densely wooded area about 1,500 feet east of the private grass strip. There was no noticeable damage to the surrounding trees or to the tree canopy.
The airplane hit in a right-wing-low and nose-down attitude. The right wing’s leading edge exhibited accordion crush damage and the empennage was distorted to the right. The left wing was mostly straight with wrinkling and minimal leading edge damage.
Flight control continuity was established, through overload separations and first responder cuts, from the cockpit controls to the control surfaces.
The front and back seats remained attached to their respective fuselage attach points. Both sets of 3-point harness assemblies remained latched but the left side of each lap belt was cut during the recovery. Both shoulder harness webbings were separated at the Y junctions. All harnesses remained attached to their respective fuselage attach points.
The engine and propeller were buried in the ground and remained attached to the airframe. One propeller blade was bent aft about mid-span and the other blade was relatively straight with no noticeable bending. Both blades exhibited leading edge gouges and chordwise abrasions.
At the accident site, underneath the right wing and near the engine, there were several tree branches that exhibited 45° cuts and visible paint transfer from impact with the rotating propeller.
The main fuel tank and left auxiliary fuel tank were breached and did not contain fuel. There was blue aviation gasoline found pooled in the cockpit area underneath the main tank. The right auxiliary fuel tank contained about 2.5 gallons of aviation gasoline.
At the time of the accident, the airplane was about 136 pounds over maximum gross weight and the center of gravity was within an acceptable range. This weight is estimated based on 5 gallons of fuel in the auxiliary fuel tanks. The actual total amount of fuel onboard is unknown as both the main fuel tank and the left auxiliary fuel tank were breached.
Probable Cause: 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.
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This June 2023 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
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