Accident Overview
On September 19, 2022, at approximately 1348 eastern daylight time, an Aeronca 7AC Champion, registration N2716E, sustained substantial damage in an accident near Bridgetown, New Jersey. The pilot and a pilot-rated passenger were fatally injured. The flight was conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight.
Sequence of Events
Airport security video showed the pilot starting the engine at 1341 and taxiing to the end of the 1,900-foot-long turf runway at Bucks Airport (00N), Bridgeton, New Jersey. About four minutes later, another security video captured the airplane in a steep left-turning descent before impacting the ground.
A witness near the departure end of runway 18 reported hearing an "unusual" engine sound. He observed the airplane 3 to 4 feet above the runway surface, then saw it "aggressively pull up" in a steep climb near the runway end. The airplane cleared power lines, but the engine sounded as if it were not accelerating or generating full power. The airplane subsequently failed to climb and entered a descending left turn. The witness lost sight of it as it descended behind trees and then heard an impact.
Another witness, the airport owner, saw the airplane depart the runway with about 50 feet remaining. He noted it entered a steep angle of attack, slowly leveled out, and then disappeared from view after making a slow left turn.
Impact and Wreckage
The airplane came to rest upright in the front yard of a residential house, about 50 feet from a road and 500 feet from the departure end of the runway, oriented on a magnetic heading of about 20°. The cabin, instrument panel, seats, and engine compartment were fractured into several pieces. The forward fuselage was crushed aft and upward. Both wings exhibited relatively uniform aft crushing damage to the leading edges. The tail section was undamaged.
Flight control continuity was established from the cockpit controls to the respective flight controls. The positions of the throttle, mixture, and carburetor heat controls could not be determined due to impact damage.
Engine and Fuel Examination
The propeller was separated from the engine; one blade was bent aft. The blades showed no chordwise scratching or S-bending. Engine powertrain continuity was intact from the propeller flange to the accessory case. Thumb compression was established on all cylinders after removing the top spark plugs. The magnetos produced spark on all leads. The carburetor was disassembled and showed no anomalies. The oil screen was clean. Fuel samples from the tanks, lines, and gascolator were blue and tested negative for ethanol.
Weather Conditions
The 1354 recorded weather observation at Millville Municipal Airport (MIV), about 8 miles southeast of the accident location, included wind from 200° at 7 knots, visibility 10 miles, clear skies, temperature 28°C, dew point 18°C, and an altimeter setting of 29.94 inches of mercury.
Carburetor Icing Information
The carburetor icing probability chart from FAA Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) CE-09-35 indicated a probability of serious icing at glide power for the reported temperature and dew point. The engine operating instructions for the Aeronca 7AC specify that during pre-takeoff ground test, the carburetor heat control should be moved to the full hot position to observe a decrease in engine speed, then returned to full cold. The instructions also note that ice may form in the carburetor during ground test and must be eliminated before takeoff. FAA SAIB CE-09-35 states that carburetor icing can occur above freezing due to fuel vaporization and air expansion causing sudden cooling, and can be detected by a drop in RPM in fixed-pitch propeller airplanes.