Private Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Monroe, Michigan 48162
Sunday, August 12, 2012 20:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During an approach for landing, the airplane impacted a marked power line that was about 27 feet high and about 360 feet from the runway at a private airstrip. When the airplane contacted the power line, it descended and impacted terrain about 75 feet from the approach end of the runway. The pilot thought that the airplane was high enough to clear the power line and stated that the accident could have been prevented if he had flown a higher approach and payed more attention to the location of the power line. The pilot stated that there was no mechanical malfunction or failure with the airplane at the time of the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The inadequate descent angle flown by the pilot during a final approach for landing, which resulted in an in-flight collision with a power line.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/12/2012
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 2030
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Monroe
Event State MICHIGAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 48162
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Private
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PVT
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.2
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
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) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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) 31635
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record May 30 2013 5:20PM
User who most recently changed record bowl
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N646FD
NTSB Number CEN12LA545
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 Dykas
Aircraft Model Kitfox Series 7
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number S70202-006
Certified Max Gross Weight 1320
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 Apr 18 2011 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 202
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Pilot
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Ida
Aircraft Owner State MI
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Pilot
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Ida
Operator State MI
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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 PVT
Departure City Monroe
Departure State MI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 2015
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Monroe
Destination State MI
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 11 2013 4:11PM
User who most recently changed record galm
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 18
Runway Length 2000
Runway Width 80
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --