Aeronca 7EC accident near Palmer, Alaska, May 27, 2015
On May 27, 2015 at about 10:00 am local time, a 1946 Aeronca 7EC, registered N84116, was substantially damaged in an accident during landing near Palmer, Alaska (Palmer Airport). It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The instructor's delayed remedial actions, and the student pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted in a stall just above the ground and the subsequent hard landing.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made November 2, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- May 27, 2015 · about 10:00 am local time · cases in 2015
- Place
- Palmer, Alaska · Palmer Airport · cases near this airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Aeronca 7EC NO SERIES, built 1946 · all 7ECs on the register
- Registration
- N84116 · registry record · serial 7AC-2804
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The student pilot and his instructor were landing in a tailwheel-equipped airplane at night. The student pilot did two full stop landings on the night cross-country flight. During the first landing, the airplane stalled just above the runway, and the front left landing gear made contact with the runway first, resulting in a hard landing. The second landing was a normal, soft touchdown landing. A postflight inspection revealed that a portion of airplane's fuselage, on the left side, sustained substantial damage from the hard landing. The instructor pilot stated that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
What happened, in order
- Hard landing during landing defining event
The NTSB's findings
- cause Personnel issues › Task performance › Use of equip/info › Aircraft control › Student/instructed pilot
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, flight instructor, commercial pilot, private
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 4,500 hours in all; 200 in this make and model; 30 in the last 90 days; 20 in the last 30 days; 4,400 as pilot in command; 3,750 on instruments
- Last flight review: November 30, 2014
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: rear
- Injury: no injuries
Pilot
- Certificate: student
- Flight time: 50 hours in all; 42 in this make and model; 5 in the last 90 days; 5 in the last 30 days; 10 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: frt
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 4,581.2 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, May 11, 2015
- Maximum gross weight: 1,450 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental C90-F12 (piston); 6,362 hours total
- Operator: Above Alaska Aviation
The flight
- Departed from: PATK Talkeenta AK
- Destination: PAAQ Palmer AK
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 16, 6,000 ft by 100 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 5,000 ft
- Temperature: 50°F (10°C), dew point 37°F (3°C)
- Altimeter: 30.28 inHg
- Observation at 9:53 am from PAAQ
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight crew | 2 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
1 document, released by the NTSB on July 28, 2015. View them here, or download them; the NTSB redacts some personal details before release, and this site shows the NTSB's own titles rather than its file names.
| # | Document | What it is | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pilot/operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 | PDF, 11 pages | View Download |
The same docket at the NTSB · documents without a copy here are fetched from the NTSB when you open them.
Connections how this case links to the rest of the register
- N84116 on the register today · the tail number may have moved to another aircraft since
- Aeronca 7 Champion (Champ) 2,355 registered today · the model family and its accident history
- Aeronca 3,953 aircraft on the register
- Engine: Continental C90-F12 2,149 aircraft carry this series today · as the NTSB recorded it
- Warren "Bud" Woods Palmer Municipal · nearest airport
- Talkeetna Airport · departed from
- Accidents and incidents in Alaska 5,932 since 1982 · 825 in the last ten years
- Alaska 9,142 aircraft registered
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/accident/ANC15CA031.json.
The bigger picture in Aviation Analytics: accidents over time since 1982, by model, by phase of flight and conditions, by place and on the map.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text does not name anyone involved, its policy at this time. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.