Aeronca 7CCM N308ED accident near Duluth, Minnesota

Probable cause

The pilot’s exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack and failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and loss of control.

NTSB analysis

The accident flight was the first flight after the pilot completed an annual inspection the previous day. The pilot and passenger were completing a local flight to the pilot’s private grass strip. GPS data revealed that the airplane flew about 18 nm, then approached the grass strip and entered a left downwind for the runway. The airplane overflew the runway about 100 ft above ground level (agl) at a groundspeed of 58 mph. Near the departure end of the runway the airplane climbed and accelerated to 64 mph, then gradually slowed to 54 mph and reached a peak altitude of 240 ft agl. The airplane then made a descending left turn toward the accident site.

Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the outboard leading edge of the right wing exhibited aft accordion crush damage, the empennage was distorted to the right, and the engine and propeller were buried into the ground. Rotational scoring and leading edge damage was noted on both propeller blades and several tree limbs were cut by the rotating propeller blades. The examination revealed no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

The flight track showing a descending left turn, the position of the wreckage, the right wing crush damage, the empennage distorted to the right, and the lack of a horizontal debris field all suggest that the airplane entered an aerodynamic stall before it impacted the ground. It is likely that the pilot exceeded the airplane’s critical angle of attack and failed to maintain proper airspeed at an altitude too low to recover, which resulted in a loss of control and impact with terrain.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN23FA248 for the full record.