Aeronca O-58B accident near Greenville, SC
On June 5, 1996, an Aeronca O-58B (airplane) was involved in an accident near Greenville, SC. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- June 5, 1996
- Place
- Greenville, SC
- Aircraft
- Aeronca O-58B · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 34.850°N, 82.401°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001208X06056
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On June 5, 1996, about 1740 eastern daylight time, an Aeronca O-58B, N49546, registered to a private owner, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91, personal, local flight, crashed in the vicinity of Greenville, South Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was destroyed. The private pilot received fatal injuries, and one passenger was seriously injured. It was reported that the pilot had flown into the Greenville area, picked up the passenger, and had departed the Donaldson Center Airport, when the flight struck power lines, impacted in a lake, and sank. The injured passenger was removed from the water and taken to a local hospital, where his condition prevented him from talking to investigators. In a telephone interview on June 27, 1996, the passenger told the FAA, the reason they were flying over the lake "at such a low altitude," was that they were "just sightseeing." The passenger stated that they were "following the bends and turns" of the lake, and "did not see the wires." A witness, employed as an airline pilot, was standing on the shore, near the boat docks, when the airplane flew directly over his location, heading in a northwesterly direction. He stated that the airplane flew low over him, and had cleared the tops of the trees by an estimated altitude of "1 to 200 feet." After the airplane past, and was heading away from him, over the lake, he said to another person standing with him, "I bet he didn't know about the power lines off Holly Lane since he was flying so low." About that time the witness h
Probable cause
the pilot's failure to maintain adequate altitude/clearance from power lines while maneuvering at a low altitude.
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Browse: South Carolina · Aeronca aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
