Event CEN15LA294

Factual narrative

On July 1, 2015, about 2030 central daylight time, a Boeing A75N1 (PT17) airplane, N44SN, collided with power lines after taking off from Random Ranch Airstrip, Louisburg, Kansas. The pilot, the sole occupant on board, was not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to a private individual in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, and was being operated by Aircraft Sales, Kansas City, Kansas, under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight was originating at the time of the accident, and was destined for Miami County Airport (K81) Paola, Kansas. In a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board's duty officer, the pilot said the airplane was on consignment by the owner and he had been flying in and out of Random Ranch airstrip, a rural agricultural airstrip, located at 3400 W. 311th Coldwater Rd. He had been demonstrating the airplane to a prospective purchaser. He shut down the engine and he and his passenger disembarked and conversed for a short period of time. The pilot then boarded the airplane, started the engine, and taxied to the south end of the airstrip. He did not perform an engine run-up and did not use carburetor heat, and departed solo to the north. After liftoff and about the midpoint of the 2,000-foot long dry grass runway and at an altitude of 20 to 30 feet above the ground, "it became evident" power was insufficient as the airplane had stopped climbing. He said the engine was turning but it was not producing "as much power." The nose was high and the pilot did not see the approaching power lines. The airplane struck and severed the power lines, nosed down, and impacted a cornfield at the north end of the field. At the time of the accident, the temperature and dew point recorded at Johnson County Executive Airport (KOJC), Olathe, Kansas, located about 20 miles north of the accident site, were 28 degrees and 24 degrees Celsius (C.), respectively. Plotting these values on the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Special Aviation Information Bulletin (SAIB) CE-09-35 "Carburetor Icing Prevention" chart, the data point lies at the intersection of the blue (icing at glide and cruise power) and green (serious icing at glide power) envelopes. When asked about the possibility of carburetor ice, the pilot said he did not believe it was likely to have been a factor because the hot engine had been shut down for about 30 minutes and it only idled for a couple of minutes before takeoff. No anomalies were noted during the examination of the airframe and engine. The pilot had been demonstrating the airplane to a prospective buyer, and they took a break from flying to talk. The pilot reported that he returned to the airplane, started the engine, and taxied it to the south end of the airstrip. He did not perform an engine run-up and did not use carburetor heat. He further stated that, when the airplane was 20 to 30 ft above the ground about midpoint of the 2,000-ft-long dry, grass runway, "it became evident" that the engine power was insufficient because the airplane had stopped climbing. The pilot said that the engine was turning but that it was not producing "as much power." The airplane's nose was high, and the pilot did not see the approaching power lines. The airplane struck and severed the power lines, nosed down, and impacted a cornfield at the north end of the field. At the time of the accident, the temperature and dew point were conducive for the accumulation of carburetor icing at glide and cruise power settings. When asked about the possibility of carburetor ice, the pilot said he did not believe it was likely to have been a factor because the hot engine had only been shut down for about 30 minutes and it had only idled for a couple of minutes before takeoff. Further, the engine was operating at takeoff power, so it is unlikely that carburetor icing caused the loss of engine power. No anomalies were noted during the examination of the airframe and engine. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Temp/humidity/pressure-Conducive to carburetor icing-Contributed to outcome
• C Not determined-Not determined-(general)-(general)-Unknown/Not determined - C
• — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Wire-Contributed to outcome