While flying along a river near Knoxville, Tennessee, the Bellanca 8KCAB hit two of five unmarked utility wires that spanned the river.
The plane hit the water, which resulted in substantial damage to the airframe and minor injuries to the pilot and passenger.
When asked how the accident could have been prevented, the pilot stated, “Increase altitude minimums by at least double to ensure adequate reaction time to avoid obstacles.”
Probable cause: The pilot’s intentional low-altitude operation, which resulted in his failure to maintain clearance from unmarked utility wires.
NTSB Identification: ERA17CA012
This October 2016 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.
There are so many obstacles below 300 ft that it’s foolish to fly that low.
Old cropduster’s saying ‘flying low and Knowing how to fly low are really different’
My comment was in reaction to the pilot blaming his accident on the regs allowing him to fly that low. No reg forced him to fly that low.
A bit harsh in that we don’t know that he was doing anything but cruising along albeit a bit low. But it is fun to follow a river in less populated areas.
Kensterfly, I don’t know if you have more info than reported in this article but I don’t see where he was doing stupid stunts. That is a bit harsh. Yes he was obviously low. His response sounds to me like a well thought out answer, in hindsight.
Pilot was Intentionally flying at an unsafe altitude but says the solution to his problem would be a higher legal minimum altitude??
People who do stupid stunts aren’t going to follow regulations.