Narrative:

I departed ZZZ at XA00Z with a right downwind departure to the west. I crossed the valley to the foothills, a desolate and nearly uninhabited area to the coast, following the highway. While climbing with the ascending terrain, my propeller struck an unmarked and uncharted power line. 1 1/2 blades broke away. I immediately shut down the engine and landed on a clear stretch of the highway. The propeller and the landing gear were damaged. Minor bruises to the pilot. In this case the power line was perfectly masked by the background terrain. I saw the wire less than 1 second before contact. The lesson from this event is to never fly below the ridge line even in desolate landscape. Ball markers or streamers on the power line would have prevented this or a future situation.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: KITFOX 4 PLT MAKES FORCED LNDG ON A HWY AFTER INFLT CONTACT WITH A PWR LINE.

Narrative: I DEPARTED ZZZ AT XA00Z WITH A R DOWNWIND DEP TO THE W. I CROSSED THE VALLEY TO THE FOOTHILLS, A DESOLATE AND NEARLY UNINHABITED AREA TO THE COAST, FOLLOWING THE HWY. WHILE CLBING WITH THE ASCENDING TERRAIN, MY PROP STRUCK AN UNMARKED AND UNCHARTED PWR LINE. 1 1/2 BLADES BROKE AWAY. I IMMEDIATELY SHUT DOWN THE ENG AND LANDED ON A CLR STRETCH OF THE HWY. THE PROP AND THE LNDG GEAR WERE DAMAGED. MINOR BRUISES TO THE PLT. IN THIS CASE THE PWR LINE WAS PERFECTLY MASKED BY THE BACKGROUND TERRAIN. I SAW THE WIRE LESS THAN 1 SECOND BEFORE CONTACT. THE LESSON FROM THIS EVENT IS TO NEVER FLY BELOW THE RIDGE LINE EVEN IN DESOLATE LANDSCAPE. BALL MARKERS OR STREAMERS ON THE PWR LINE WOULD HAVE PREVENTED THIS OR A FUTURE SIT.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.