Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tracy, California 95376
Sunday, October 12, 1997 16:40 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot took off from a local airport about 40 minutes prior to the accident. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. Family members on the ground witnessed the aircraft flying over wires, which were on the west side of the bean field during previous low passes. The same family members noticed the airplane flying from west to east while attempting to fly under a power line, which paralleled a road. The witnesses indicated that the right wing clipped the power line and the aircraft struck the ground and cartwheeled about 100 yards east of the roadway. The pilot had obtained his private pilot certificate approximately 7 months prior to the accident and had accumulated about 62 hours of documented flight time. A toxicology examination of samples from the pilot yielded positive results for Brompheniramine, Pseudoephedrine, Phenylpropanolamine, and Ephedrine. Brompheniramine commonly results in drowsiness and has a measurable effect on performance of complex cognitive and motor tasks. Pseudoephedrine, Edhedrine, and Phenylpropanolamine all usually result in increased levels of alertness.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's low operating altitude and his failure to maintain appropriate clearance during low level maneuvering flight. Contributing factors were transmission wires and the physical impairment that resulted from the effects of the over-the-counter medications found during toxicological evaluation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/12/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1640 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | TRACY |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95376 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1647 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LVK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 397 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1869 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 12 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1724 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N11860 |
| NTSB Number | LAX98FA009 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bellanca |
| Aircraft Model | 7ECA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 7ECA |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 828-72 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1650 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TRACY FLIGHT CENTER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 29633 S. TRACY BLVD |
| Aircraft Owner City | TRACY |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93576 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | TCY |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1600 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |