Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Stephen, Minnesota 56757
Monday, July 28, 2003 14:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained substantial damage when it struck power lines while maneuvering at low altitude. The pilot-rated passenger reported that the pilot was performing low altitude maneuvers over a river when it struck power lines. The passenger stated that the pilot didn't feel that they had struck the line until she pointed it out to the pilot. They continued the flight and attempted to enter the pattern at two other airports but, because of air traffic in the area, they continued the flight to a third airport. Upon landing the passenger and pilot removed the wire from the airplane and inspected a hole in the aircraft wing. The pilot felt the airplane was still airworthy and decided to fly it back to the departure airport. The pilot and passenger returned to the departure airport without incident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the transmission line and the pilot's continued operation with known deficiencies in equipment. Factors to the accident were the power lines and the low altitude the pilot was flying at.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/28/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1430 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Stephen |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 56757 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | 1437 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 20 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HCO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 819 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 23 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 14 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KHCO 281017Z AUTO 16006KT 10SM CLR 13/11 A30 |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14570 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 29 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1345 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 30 2003 8:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fargo, ND, FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N67ND |
| NTSB Number | CHI03LA232 |
| 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 | American Champion (ACAC) |
| Aircraft Model | 8KCAB |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 667-92 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1344 |
| 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 | Jul 9 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 42.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 3781.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | University of North Dakota |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 8216 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Grand Forks |
| Aircraft Owner State | ND |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 58202 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | GFK |
| Departure City | GRAND FORKS |
| Departure State | ND |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1404 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | GFK |
| Destination City | GRAND FORKS |
| Destination State | ND |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 7 2003 9:15AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |