Carter Memorial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Luling, Texas 78648
Monday, August 27, 2012 19:45 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The sport pilot was making a day VFR approach to land his powered parachute on a friend’s private property. At the very last moment, he saw a power line directly in front of his final approach path. The pilot tried to land short of the power line because he did not have enough altitude to go over the lines. When the airframe (cart) was only a few feet above the ground, the parachute hit the power line. The parachute caught on the power line and the cart swung forward and to the right and hit the ground, resulting in substantial damage to the right underside of the frame. Both the pilot and his passenger exited the cart uninjured. The pilot reported that he had about 50 total flight hours in powered parachute aircraft.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Collision with a powerline resulting from the pilot's not maintaining adequate clearance while on a day VFR approach to land.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/27/2012
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1945
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Luling
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 78648
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 294341N
Event Location Longitude 0973933W
Event Location Airport Carter Memorial Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID T91
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 7
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 475
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1855 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 245
Weather Observation Facility ID RND
Elevation of weather observation facility 761
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 34
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
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) 36
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 18
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 140
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.91
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report 082355Z AUTO 14007KT 090V160 10SM CLR 36/18 A2991
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) 31580
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 Jul 19 2013 11:55AM
User who most recently changed record bowl
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N554E
NTSB Number CEN12CA631
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name POWRACHUTE
Aircraft Model PEGASUS
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number A 053 PEG
Certified Max Gross Weight 855
Aircraft Category --
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats 1
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats 1
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 --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 208
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Galle Barton C
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2309 FM86
Aircraft Owner City Luling
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 78648
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Galle Barton C
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 2309 FM86
Operator City Luling
Operator State TX
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 78648
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City Luling
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1930
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Luling
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 7 2013 5:45PM
User who most recently changed record lema
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --