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Atlas / NTSB / CHI81FEM43

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event CHI81FEM43

1981-09-07 PLAINWELL, Michigan, United States None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N31751

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

AERONCA 65-TC

Engine

CONT MOTOR A&C65 SERIES (65 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19570715

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A363F3

Registrant of record

STERLING AVIATION SERVICES INC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Historical record (pre-1982)

NTSB recorded this accident in the pre-1982 coded-field schema — structured fields rather than free-text narrative. Decoded codes use established NTSB single-letter taxonomies; cause factors remain verbatim pending the Form 6120.4 codebook lookup.

Aircraft

AERONCA 65-TC · N31751

Damage

Substantial

Craft type

Airplane

Classification

Accident

Light condition

Dawn

Weather

VMC

Phase of flight

EJ

Operator type

D

Airport

FARMER & FIELD

Kind of flying

B0

Weather at impact

Sky

SCATTERED-ABOVE 1000 FEET

Wind

240° / 10 kt

Aircraft history

Serial number

000005405268

Total time

2,730 hrs

Pilot

Certificate

Commercial — instrument

Total hours

702

Age

46

Probable cause (from PRE1982.MDB)

WAY RWY,LND N TKOF S.

Investigator remarks

DUE TO TREES ON N END RWY IT IS CONSIDERED A ONE

Cause factors

  • 64/A/35 A
    PILOT IN COMMAND SELECTED UNSUITABLE TERRAIN Cause — pilot/personnel action
  • 64/A/07 A
    PILOT IN COMMAND DELAYED IN INITIATING GO-AROUND Cause — pilot/personnel action
  • 83/J/D J
    TERRAIN HIGH VEGETATION Joint cause

Decoded against the NTSB Form 6120.4 cause-factor codebook (ct_Pre1982 table). Each row shows the raw triplet, modifier (Cause / Factor / etc.), category, and specific code.

Source: NTSB pre-1982 historical archive. Docket 3 1928. Source file NTSB_1981_3_1928.txt. Modern CAROL record on data.ntsb.gov ↗.