Event CEN19LA184

Factual narrative

On June 23, 2019, about 1845 eastern daylight time, a Piper J3C airplane, N70803, impacted a tree and terrain during an approach to the Vine Grove Airport (70KY), near Vine Grove, Kentucky. The private pilot and a passenger sustained serious injuries. The airplane received substantial wing and fuselage damage during the impact. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed in the area about the time of the accident, and the flight was not operated on a flight plan. The local flight originated from 70KY about 1700. A witness heard and observed an airplane fly low on the approach path to the airport and then it impacted a tree and terrain. The witness subsequently called 9-1-1. According to the pilot's accident report, the airplane was on final for runway 29. He woke up in the hospital about 3 weeks later and has no recollection of the final sequence of events of the flight. The pilot reported that there were no airplane mechanical malfunctions during the flight. According to the passenger's statement, the passenger had flown with the pilot in the accident airplane several times before the accident flight. The pilot performed a preflight inspection of the airplane and the weather was cloudy when the passenger arrived for the flight. The passenger sat in the front seat and the pilot flew the airplane from the rear seat during the local "scenic" flight. The passenger did not remember any turbulence during the flight. He did not recall the engine making any unusual sounds or any anomalies in the airplane's maneuverability. The passenger did not recall any sun in his eyes. However, the airplane had a pitch up attitude during the approach. He saw what he thought was vegetation and lifted his head up to look out the windshield. The passenger then recalled seeing a tree and shouted to the pilot that there was a "tree right here." A "split second" later the airplane hit the tree, flew through it, and crashed. The pilot held a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) private pilot certificate with airplane single engine land and sea ratings and a private glider pilot certificate. He did not possess a current medical certificate and; therefore, was operating the airplane as a sport pilot. The pilot reported 909 hours of total flight time; 230 hours of which were in the accident airplane make and model. The pilot's last flight review was on May 6, 2019. N70803 was a single-engine, tailwheel, fixed-gear, high wing airplane with serial number 17821. It was powered by a 65-horsepower Continental A-65-8 F engine, with serial number 53563-6-8, which drove a two-bladed Sensenich propeller. At 1756, the recorded weather at the Godman Army Airfield, near Fort Knox, Kentucky, was: Wind 110° at 6 kts; visibility 10 statute miles; temperature 22° C; dew point 21° C; altimeter 29.90 inches of mercury. The temperature and dew point spread present about the time of the accident was in the moderate carburetor icing range at cruise power or serious carburetor icing range at descent power. 70KY was a private, non-towered airport, which was owned by Vine Grove Airport, Inc. It was located about one mile northeast of Vine Grove, Kentucky. The airport had one runway and a surveyed elevation of 680 ft above mean sea level. Runway 11/29 was a 2,700 ft by 60 ft runway with a turf surface. The airport listed a 25 ft power line, 10 ft from the runway end as an obstruction in reference to runway 11 and listed no obstructions to runway 29. A FAA inspector conducted an on-scene inspection of the airplane. The inspector observed that the right-wing control cables had been cut by first responders. All flight control surfaces were free moving and appeared to be interconnected. However, he could not confirm if connections had continuity with the control stick and rudder pedals due to damage. The aft control stick had been cut during the extraction of pilot. The propeller was able to be rotated, but a full rotation was not possible due to ground interference. There was a strong odor of fuel at the accident site. The airplane was subsequently recovered to a recovery yard for additional examination. A National Transportation Safety Board Senior Air Safety Investigator and a technical representative from the engine manufacturer examined the wreckage at the recovery yard and documented the wreckage. The pictures and observations revealed that the fuel shutoff valve appeared to be in the forward ON position. The throttle handle was in full aft CLOSED position. The carburetor heat selector was in the OFF position and the primer was in the forward locked position. One of the two propeller blades exhibited chordwise abrasion. The carburetor had separated from the engine below the mounting flange. The carburetor heat box was deformed, and the carburetor heat linkage was positioned consistent with carburetor heat being on. The fuel inlet fitting to carburetor was fractured. A liquid consistent with water was found in the carburetor bowl. Removed sparkplugs exhibited a normal wear and coloration compared to a Champion Aviation Check-A-Plug chart. The propeller flange was bent. All engine cylinders produced a thumb compression when the propeller was rotated by hand. No anomalies were detected that could not be attributed to impact damage. The pilot and a passenger departed in a tailwheel airplane on a local flight with the pilot flying the airplane from the rear seat. The pilot reported that there were no airplane mechanical malfunctions through final approach to the airport, which was the pilot’s last recollection. The passenger did not recall the engine making any unusual sounds or any anomalies in the airplane's maneuverability during the flight. During the approach, the airplane had a nose-up pitch attitude, and a witness heard and observed the airplane flying low on the approach path to the airport. The passenger saw a tree and shouted to the pilot, then the airplane hit the tree, flew through it, and crashed. Postaccident examination of the airplane and the airplane's engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. A review of the temperature and dew point about the time of the accident revealed that the airplane was operated in the moderate carburetor icing range at cruise power or serious carburetor icing range at descent power. However, based on the passenger's and witnesses' observations of no anomalies with the engine and that the airplane was flying low, it is likely that the pilot did not maintain sufficient visual lookout during the approach and impacted the tree. 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).

• — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Identification/recognition-Pilot
• C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Lack of action-Pilot - C
• — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Tree(s)-Contributed to outcome
• — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Tree(s)-Awareness of condition