The private pilot was conducting a personal flight in the Aeronca 7AC.
Multiple witnesses reported seeing the airplane flying at a low altitude and track data recovered from the pilot’s mobile phone revealed he had flown the airplane at an altitude that was less than 50 feet above the ground for most of the flight over and near a lake in Alexandria, Minnesota.
One of the witnesses reported that the pilot would often overfly his house at a low altitude.
The airplane collided with power lines over a road and crashed. The pilot died in the crash.
Post-accident examination of the airplane and engine revealed no evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
The accident occurred during daylight hours and in visual meteorological conditions that included a clear sky and a 10-mile surface visibility. The position of the sun relative to the airplane’s final flightpath would not have hindered the pilot’s ability to see and avoid the power lines.
The airplane hit the power lines because of the pilot’s intentional low-altitude flight.
Postmortem toxicology testing identified 0.029 gm/dl and 0.053 gm/dl of ethanol in the pilot’s blood and vitreous specimens, respectively. The reported levels were consistent with recent ingestion of alcohol by the pilot.
Even at low levels, ethanol can affect judgment and decision-making, as well as impair the psychomotor functioning necessary for safe flight.
However, in this case, the pilot had a habit of flying in a reckless manner at low altitudes. As a result, the investigation was unable to determine if the effects of the likely ingested alcohol contributed to the accident.
Probable cause: The pilot’s intentional low-altitude flight, which resulted in an impact with power lines.
NTSB Identification: CEN18FA297
This July 2018 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.
The law is the law: eight hours bottle to throttle–period!
Most pipeline patrol aircraft fly low, usually 500′-700′ AGL. I don’t know how many fly impaired, though. A real shame that a life was lost.
So now flying at low level is necessarily wreckless, though legal, and being quite well below the legal blood/alcohol limit, which is a conservative number to begin with, neccesarily constitutes being drunk.
I thought the guy just didn’t see the wires.
I have overheard people saying it’s absolute lunacy to get into a general aviation aircraft in the first place. I thought they were being under informed and overly judgemental…but perhaps that is the root of the problem after all!
Regardless of what the cause was, the death of anyone onboard is senseless! Isn’t it possible to protect yourself by wearing a parachute on especially these small flights, or be smart & don’t get on board with a daredevil or someone who has been drinking or both! Life is too short already – you don’t need to make it easier for the man upstairs!
A parachute wouldn’t have help at all….he was flying about 20 feet off the ground when he hit the power line
At low levels a parachute in useless…personal or aircraft wide. The solution to this incident is to obey the rules and fly at the proper altitudes.
Darwin effect is brutal. Wearing a ‘chute’ would only have meant his shroud would have been readily available for the people who recovered his body. It IS possible to “protect yourself” by: 1) not flying drunk; 2) not flying in the ‘wire zone’; 3) Making responsible decisions for your actions. He did none of those things. For potential passengers your advice is right on.
Got drunk, went flying, and crashed. End of story.
Reminds me of a young guy near where I live who went to a party on someone’s boat. He got drunk, fell over the side, and drowned. A young life instantly snuffed out by complete stupidity. It’s mind boggling.
It seems to me that these sort of idiotically-low flights ending in disaster are becoming more common. Makes for “great” YouTube video I guess, as well as qualifying many for Darwin Awards. Just don’t do it. If you love aviation, losing aircraft and lives senselessly doesn’t further the cause.
(Yet expect comments of ‘I fly low all the time and it’s perfectly safe’. Uh, right.)