American Champion (Acac) 7GCBC accident near Wichita Falls, TX
On September 14, 2008, an American Champion (Acac) 7GCBC (airplane) was involved in an accident near Wichita Falls, TX. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- September 14, 2008
- Place
- Wichita Falls, TX
- Aircraft
- American Champion (Acac) 7GCBC · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 33.860°N, 98.489°W
- NTSB ID
- 20080924X01522
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On September 14, 2008, at 0907 central daylight time, a single-engine American Champion 7GCBC, N571JH, was substantially damaged upon impact with terrain near Kickapoo Municipal Airport (CWC), Wichita Falls, Texas. The private pilot, sole occupant of the airplane, was fatally injured. The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot. No flight plan was filed and visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to the pilot's wife, the pilot had planned to remain in the traffic pattern at CWC. Several witnesses saw the airplane or heard the engine. One witness heard the engine surge loudly and witnessed the airplane "struggling to find lift." Another person heard the engine "popping," go silent, and then start producing a "popping" noise again. Several of the witnesses observed the airplane's base to final leg and reported that they heard no engine noise. Witnesses also reporting seeing the propeller horizontal and then spinning as if the engine restart was attempted. Furthermore, witnesses stated that as the airplane approached the open field near the church, the airplane barely cleared a transmission line before quickly rolling right and impacting the ground "nose first." PERSONNEL INFORMATION The pilot, age 56, held a private pilot certificate with a single-engine land rating. A valid third class medical certificate was issued on May 7, 2008. A review of the pilot's logbook revealed that the pilot had logged over 314 hours total time. Thirteen hours were logged in the 7GCBC model,
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain safe flying airspeed resulting in an inadvertent stall during the forced landing. Contributing to the accident was the loss of engine power due to carburetor icing.
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Browse: Texas
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
