Piper J3L-65 accident at Ogden, Utah, 29 Jul 1943

Accident narrative

On July 29, 1943, a Piper J3L-65 crashed northwest of Robert H. Hinckley Airport in Ogden, Utah, during a local instruction flight. The instructor, Ray Clifton Mellott, was fatally injured, and his student, Kenneth Warren Tucker, received minor injuries.

The aircraft departed at approximately 8:10 a.m. Mellott held a commercial pilot certificate with a flight instructor rating and had approximately 657 solo hours and 438 hours giving dual instruction. Tucker, a Navy trainee in the War Training Service program, had approximately 33 dual and 30 solo hours.

After the student unsatisfactorily executed two simulated forced landings, the instructor took over to demonstrate the maneuver. The student throttled the engine, applied carburetor heat, and called for a forced landing. The instructor selected a small field and demonstrated two sideslips to lose altitude. During the subsequent straight-in approach, the landing gear shock struts struck a power line 22 feet above the ground. The airplane severed the wires, dived to the ground on its nose, landing gear, and left wing tip, and came to rest inverted.

The investigation found no pre-existing aircraft failures. The student recalled flying low over trees and a house, and stated that power had not been applied for a pull-up when they struck the wires. However, propeller damage indicated considerable power was being developed at ground impact. The Board concluded neither pilot saw the power line, which was barely visible against trees with obscured supporting poles, and that power was applied after striking the wires in an attempt to regain control.

The Board determined the probable cause of this accident was the instructor's failure to observe and avoid a power line while carrying a simulated forced landing to a dangerously low altitude.