Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pahokee, Florida 33476
Tuesady, March 18, 2003 17:55 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airline transport rated pilot was maneuvering the airplane at low altitude over a sugar cane field for the purpose of scaring birds out of the field. Two witnesses observed the airplane make a low pass over the field to the west then start a steep climbing right turn to the northwest. According to one witness, as the airplane "was about to turn back into the field it was obvious he was in trouble (did not have enough room to recover) not sure if engine quit or he killed the power to recover." The witness said he saw the airplane "stall" and impact the ground. The other witness reported that the airplane was turning, "did not pull up" and hit the ground "at about 30 degrees from vertical." The witnesses indicated that the wind was from the west, and the airplane was turning from upwind to downwind when the accident occurred. Examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane impacted the ground in a nose low attitude with little forward speed. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed, resulting in an inadvertent stall while maneuvering.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/18/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1755 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Pahokee |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33476 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 264700N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0804100W |
| 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 | 1753 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KPBI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 16 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 600 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.69 |
| 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) | 18010 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SE Reg Com Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 18 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1905 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2005 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fort Lauderdale FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2517E |
| NTSB Number | MIA03FA077 |
| 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 | Champion |
| Aircraft Model | Aeronca 7BCM |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7AC-6094 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 5 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 80 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | William M. Challancin |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 800 NE 2nd St. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Belle Glade |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33430 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | James R. Challancin |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | X10 |
| Departure City | BELLE GLADE |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| 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 - turn to reverse direction |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 13 2005 3:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |