ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 40229
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| Date: | Wednesday 1 September 1999 |
| Time: | 20:40 LT |
| Type: |  Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser |
| Owner/operator: | Howard C. Kitzman |
| Registration: | N91901 |
| MSN: | 12-22 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 2188 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-320-TCA274 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Neguanee, MI -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Marquette, MI |
| Dead River Lake, MI | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The floatplane impacted a microwave tower at 2040 edt while maneuvering 1/4 mile from the lake where it typically landed. Official sunset was 2030 and the sun's azimuth was 283 degrees. The pilot had 'Defective distant vision, right eye, 20/60, uncorrectable.' A witness reported, 'It appeared as though he was doing a circle back towards his house-a routine I had seen him do many times before. This time ... he seemed to be flying much lower, closer to the trees, than usual. The witness reported, 'He appeared to have circled around again, and this time the engine was revved up considerably higher. Again, his flight was uncharacteristically low. I wondered whether it was [the pilot] flying the plane because I'd never seen him fly like this before.' He reported, 'I went into the house and within a few minutes I heard what sounded like a rifle blast.' The left pontoon was located about 46 feet from the base of the tower. It exhibited cable scratching and crushing and bending of its main strut. The main wreckage was located about 120 feet from the base of the tower. The inspection revealed no airframe or engine pre-impact anomalies. The propeller exhibited chordwise scratching, leading edge gouging, 'S' bending, and blade tip curl. The side lights on the tower were observed operating the night of the accident after the airplane had impacted the tower.
Probable Cause: the pilot failed to maintain clearance from the tower.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB CHI99FA332
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Oct-2008 10:30 | ASN archive | Added |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:23 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 14-Dec-2017 09:25 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 07-Apr-2024 18:13 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Operator, Other fatalities, Source, Narrative, Category, Accident report] |
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