Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Brighton Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Brighton, Michigan 48114
Saturday, September 1, 2012 8:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Witnesses observed the airplane make a normal engine run-up before takeoff followed by a normal takeoff from the runway. Shortly after takeoff, the engine did not sound like it was developing full power, and the airplane was struggling to climb. Subsequently, the airplane made a 180-degree turn and then descended toward terrain in a nose-down attitude. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical failures or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Although the weather conditions at the time of takeoff were conducive to the formation of carburetor ice at glide and cruise power, it could not be determined whether carburetor ice was a factor in the loss of engine power. It is likely that the pilot failed to maintain airspeed during the turn back to the airport, which resulted in a stall.
Postaccident examination of the airframe revealed that the pilot’s shoulder harness failed during the accident. Material examination of the shoulder harness webbing and stitching showed that they failed due to an overload event. The occupants’ injuries suggest that both occupants were using the four-point shoulder harnesses at the time of the accident and were exposed to strong deceleration forces. If the pilot’s shoulder harness had not failed, he likely would not have suffered the brain injury he received, which caused permanent disability. However, it is possible that an intact shoulder harness could have led to more severe chest, abdominal, or cervical injuries. The investigation could not determine whether the pilot would have died or sustained a permanent disability from some other injury if the shoulder harness had remained intact.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed following a partial loss of engine power for reasons that could not be determined during postaccident examination, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and loss of airplane control. Contributing to the severity of the pilot’s head injuries was the failure of the shoulder harness assembly.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/1/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 830 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Brighton |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 48114 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 423411N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0834642W |
| Event Location Airport | Brighton Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 45G |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 973 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 815 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OZW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 962 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| 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) | 30.15 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 33217 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 23 2014 1:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | saua |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N82383 |
| NTSB Number | CEN12FA601 |
| 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-1016 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| 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 | Nov 22 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 27 |
| Airframe Hours | 2419 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ON FILE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | BRIGHTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48116-1352 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | ON FILE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | BRIGHTON |
| Operator State | MI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 48116-1352 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 45G |
| Departure City | Brighton |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 830 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 45G |
| Destination City | Brighton |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 23 2014 1:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | saua |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |