Primary finding
Probable cause
The pilot in commands intentional flight into known adverse weather conditions which lead to an inadvertent aerodynamic stall of the aircraft. Factors contributing to the accident were the ice fog and the icing conditions.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The pilot in command on VFR flight told investigators that he flew through fog at minus five degrees (-5 f) and collected ice on windshield and wing lift struts. The aircraft inadevertantly entered an aerodynamic stall when slowed to approach speed and impacted short of runway.
Source record
Factual narrative
On December 9, 1993, at 1200 Alaska standard time, an Aeronca 7AC ski-equipped airplane, N84903, stalled in the traffic pattern and crashed at Circle City, Alaska. The airplane had departed North Pole, Alaska, near Fairbanks at 1130 under 14 CFR Part 91, while on a personal flight. No flight plan was filed and it was conducted as a VFR flight in visual meteorological conditions. The private pilot, as sole occupant, was seriously injured and the airplane was substantially damaged. The pilot told the FAA that he had "flown through some fog" en route and remembered ice built up on his windshield and lift struts during the descent to Circle City. He said that while in the traffic pattern the left wing dropped, he added power and used full opposite aileron, and the right wing fell and the airplane stalled and crashed in the brush near the field. The weather at the field at the time was minus (-5) five degrees (F) with visibility three miles in ice fog. FAA records indicated that the private pilot's medical certificate had expired as of July 1993. -