Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mercer, Maine 04957
Tuesady, September 24, 2002 15:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The accident pilot was accompanied by a friend, who was flying a second airplane. After takeoff, they flew along a river and landed at another airport. The pilot's friend said he flew about 500 feet above the ground in the vicinity of the river, while the accident pilot was "flying literally on the river." They then departed the airport and flew back over the river. The pilot's friend lost sight of the accident pilot and later observed the accident airplane suspended in a cable over the river. The airplane struck the middle of, and became entangled in a United States Geological Survey cable, which was about 20 to 25 feet above the river and about 3 miles west-southwest of the departure airport. The pilot's friend said that the accident pilot was aware of the cable because they had talked about it during a previous flight along the river. Examination of the airplane did not reveal any mechanical malfunctions. The pilot had purchased the homebuilt airplane about two months prior to the accident. A check of the Federal Aviation Administration Airman database for the accident pilot did not reveal any pilot or medical certificate information.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper in-flight decision, and failure to maintain adequate clearance, which resulted in a collision with a wire during a low altitude flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/24/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Mercer |
| Event State | MAINE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 04957 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 444030N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0695749W |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1455 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 345 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WVL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 333 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.17 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14479 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 24 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1755 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2003 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Portland |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7011Y |
| NTSB Number | NYC02LA195 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Paiement |
| Aircraft Model | Rans S-12 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1092309 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 920 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 585 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Daniel Blake |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Farmingdale |
| Aircraft Owner State | ME |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 04344 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | OWK |
| Departure City | NORRIDGEWOCK |
| Departure State | ME |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1450 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | Farmington |
| Destination State | ME |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 26 2003 4:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |