CHI82FER22 · Aeronca 7AC
Aeronca 7AC · Accident: total loss of engine power (non-mechanical) on approach
From Maple Plain, MN to Maple Plain, MN
Event
- NTSB case
- CHI82FER22
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Aeronca 7AC
- Aircraft type
- Aeronca 7
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N84554
- Operator
- Robert L. Ziehwein · private individual
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Maple Plain, MNTo Maple Plain, MN
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Approach · VFR go-around
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Total loss of engine power (non-mechanical)
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Stall
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Fuel system, carburetor › Ice
- Pilot in command › Carburetor heat, improper use of
- Pilot in command › Impairment(alcohol)
- Pilot in command › Judgment, poor
Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Maple Plain, MN, the place the record names. Not the accident site.
NTSB narrative
THE PILOT REPORTED THAT HE CIRCLED THE FARM AREA SEVERAL TIMES TO FIND A SUITABLE LANDING SITE. HE DECIDED ON A PORTION OF THE FARMER'S FIELD NEXT TO THE HOUSE AND MADE A FINAL PASS TO INSPECT THE AREA. DURING THE PASS, HE SAW SOME TREES AND REPORTEDLY DECIDED TO GO AROUND. HE APPLIED FULL THROTTLE (FROM GLIDE POWER). BUT THE ENGINE SPUTTERED AND QUIT. THE PILOT STATED THAT HE INITIATED A STALL TO AVOID THE ONCOMING OBSTRUCTIONS (HOUSE AND TREES). THE TEMPERATURE AND DEW POINT WERE 82 AND 51 DEG, RESPECTIVELY. ACCORDING TO THE ICING PROBABILITY CHARTS, CONDITIONS AT THESE TEMPERATURES WOULD BE CONDUCIVE TO SERIOUS CARBURETOR ICING WHEN THE POWER WAS AT IDLE. THE CARBURETOR HEAT WAS FOUND IN THE OFF POSITION. A BLOOD/ALCOHOL TEST SHOWED THAT THE PILOT'S ETHANOL CONTENT WAS 221 MG/DL. THE PILOT'S LAST MEDICAL CERTIFICATE WAS DATED 4/4/80. IT HAD BEEN ISSUED WITH A RESTRICTION (A SPECIAL PANEL EXEMPTION) AFTER HE HAD BEEN TREATED FOR ALCOHOLISM. THE CERTIFICATE WAS ISSUED FOR ONLY 6 MONTHS.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record CHI82FER22
- Event ID
- 20020917X03094
- Case number
- CHI82FER22
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: local date, investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1982-06-24.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 70faa7de2330d20aa8c174e39b4a312f5c0db727db67d431616674a3467d49dc; retrieved 2026-09-21T18:12:32.408Z.