FOR IMMEDIATE USE
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
BUREAU OF AIR COMMERCE
Washington
STATEMENT OF PROBABLE CAUSE
CONCERNING AN AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT
WHICH OCCURRED TO A PRIVATELY OWNED PLANE
ON MARCH 24, 1935, AT COLUMBUS GROVE, OHIO
To the Secretary of Commerce:
On March 24, 1935 at about 8:30 a.m. near Columbus Grove, Ohio, a privately owned airplane, being used for solo student instructional flying, crashed with resultant death to the pilot and the complete destruction of the aircraft.
The plane, an Aeronca, Model C-3, owned by the pilot, bore Department of Commerce license number NC-13585. The pilot, Irvin Pierman, held a Department of Commerce student pilot's license.
Witnesses observed the plane flying over the field from the north at an altitude of 600 or 700 feet. A turn was made toward the west, and almost immediately after the turn both wings collapsed and the plane fell to the earth.
Apparently the right wing was the first to collapse as parts of this wing were found furthest from the point of contact with the ground. However, the wing structure was so completely demolished that it was impossible to establish just which part failed first. Very little could be learned relative to the maintenance, care or usage of this aircraft since its last inspection by the Department of Commerce on July 2, 1934.
It is the opinion of the Accident Board that the probable cause of this accident was a failure of the wing structure.
Respectfully submitted,
Eugene L. Vidal
Director of Air Commerce
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States federal government (see 17 U.S.C. 105).
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