The pilot was practicing an engine out emergency maneuver with a student near Arlington, Texas, when the Cessna 152 collided with low wires. The wires came into contact with the airplane’s windscreen, resulting in a large portion of the screen fracturing.
After the accident, the pilot stated that the power lines were barely visible even from the ground, and was surprised they had not been struck before by a crop duster or during another training flight.
He said that balls or markers would have helped make the line more visible.
He also offered that he could have scouted the area more thoroughly prior to the flight.
The NTSB determined the probable cause as the pilot’s inadequate flight preparation and navigation during a training flight resulting in collision with low wires.
NTSB Identification: CEN15CA005
This October 2014 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.
LUCKY that they are alive to tell !
NO ONE CAN SEE WIRE
We ALL know pilots cannot see wires ;the FAA knows it ;the NTSB knows it =this is why it is MANDATORY to mark wires around airports.
We go to the movies and watch Steve McQueen in the “Great Escape” when he needs a motocycle…he stretches a wire across the road and we ALL know what comes next.
In the movie ” Where Eagles Dare ” when Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton are chased by nazis they get off their side car and stretch a wire …we all know what comes next…
In Rio Bravo ,when John Wayne hears a scream ,he rushes down the stairways where the bad guys stretched a rope and we know what will happen!
California paid millions of dollars to bury the wires because the Condors could not see them (and Condors die drinking anti-freeze)!
AOPA spend (how much?) for a 45 minutes video (paid by the Safety foundation) saying “be careful pilots you cannot see the wires”
ADOPT-A_WIRE doesn’t cost any money to the tax-payers and will save lives ..on a regular basis,every month, you find the one line in the newspaper (often implying the pilot must have been drunk or the aircraft unworthy) Most often it is a highly trained young man ,in a helicopter ..on a rescue mission …lifting up and voila!
Please help me promote this ADOPT-A-Wire program .All is needed is good sense to put recognition’s name on orange balls.
As I explained ADOPT-A-WIRE=would be just as “Adopt-a-Highway”
it would recognizes with the name of the person keeping that portion of the highway clean, I have proposed putting up names on big orange balls to mark the wires.
People will pay to have their names on the ball;just as the road program [where people sign a “Hold harmless” clause to satisfy the lawyers]
ADOPT-A-WIRE ! will comply with the law and save lives;
Why must it be relearned by pilots that comparatively tiny cables/wires cannot be seen at distance but the poles that support them generally can be seen. Scan, scan, scan and don’t get so low on a practice approach to an unfamiliar area.
I mean, this is why you don’t go beyond the minimum 500′.
Exactly, power lines and other obstacles are first on your mind when you decide to go low.
Good point, though it’s fair to say this pilot attempted to be careful. In his report he notes that “If you look at the unspliced lines located toward the farm house one can hardly see them from the ground. Overall I believe that I should have scouted this field out better prior to the flight with the student. That could have prevented this, however it would have had to be really well scouted. This electrical service is difficult to see even from the ground.” Unfortunately, lines like this can be erected quickly (in a matter of hours) with very little ground disturbance to offer hints that something has changed. Taking the aircraft below 500′ is an important and valuable instructional aid that offers student pilots and BFR recipients a sight picture of what they’ll see should they have to make an off airport landing. It’s worth noting that in every year that the NTSB has reported “defining events” for GA accidents “System Malfunction (Powerplant)” has come in among the top three causes. This category captures mechanical problems… not other causes of power loss. In 2012 powerplant malfunction was a close second, and in 2013 it was first – topping in flight loss of control. When we add all of the other reasons that engines quit (fuel issues, some of the “undetermined” which were likely carb ice, and some of the “other” ) power loss resulting in accidents looms very large as something to train for and anticipate.