Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Greensburg, Kentucky 42743
Saturday, July 19, 2008 14:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that he had been giving airplane rides all day. He flew around mountain ridges and would swoop down over a cornfield. Regarding the accident flight, he stated, "I guess I just wasn't paying attention and hit the trees." The pilot was asked if the airplane had experienced any problems. The pilot stated no, the airplane was running fine, and he "just messed up and didn't realize how close I was to the trees, I was looking at the cornfield, you know, lining up with it and just didn't see the trees, I had flown that same route all day and guess I just got sloppy."

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from trees while maneuvering. Contributing to the accident was the low altitude maneuvers.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/19/2008
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Greensburg
Event State KENTUCKY
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 42743
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 371539N
Event Location Longitude 0852956W
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 --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1358 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 240
Weather Observation Facility ID GLW
Elevation of weather observation facility 716
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 20
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) 32
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 19
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 260
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.07
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 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 24246
NTSB Notification Source FAA Southern Region ROC
NTSB Notification Date Jul 19 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 26 2008 6:40PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Louisville FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3624E
NTSB Number MIA08CA145
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 Aeronca
Aircraft Model 7AC
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 7AC-6952
Certified Max Gross Weight 1250
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 Apr 1 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 25
Airframe Hours 2200
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Joel Kiffen Jones
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Summer Shade
Aircraft Owner State KY
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 42166
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) Other Work Use
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code NONE
Departure City Greensburg
Departure State KY
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1350
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code NONE
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 4 2008 9:50PM
User who most recently changed record grer
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight Yes
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --