Private Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Harmonsburg, Pennsylvania 16422
Saturday, August 5, 2006 11:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane was on final approach to land on a 1,700-foot-long, turf runway. The pilot reported that the airplane struck trees that were located at the approach end of the runway. The airplane subsequently struck a power line and impacted the ground. The pilot reported that he did not experience any mechanical problems with the airplane. He reported 2,600 hours of total flight experience, which included about 150 hours in the same make and model as the accident airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain the proper altitude/clearance on final approach, which resulted in an in-flight collision with trees.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/5/2006
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1130
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Harmonsburg
Event State PENNSYLVANIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 16422
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 413827N
Event Location Longitude 0800904W
Event Location Airport Private
Event Location Nearest Airport ID NONE
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1053 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID GKJ
Elevation of weather observation facility 1403
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 25
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 100
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.2
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 20843
NTSB Notification Source FAA EROC
NTSB Notification Date Aug 7 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 31 2007 9:40AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Harrisburg

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9866B
NTSB Number NYC06CA194
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 7FC
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 7FC-189
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 Mar 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Minnette Clepper
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Saegertown
Aircraft Owner State PA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
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 3PN6
Departure City Cambridge
Departure State PA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1110
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code NONE
Destination City Harmonsburg
Destination State PA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Approach - VFR pattern - final approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 25 2006 8:38AM
User who most recently changed record MUZD
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 010
Runway Length 1700
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --