Champion 7ECA accident near San Jose, CA
On April 18, 2009, a Champion 7ECA (airplane) was involved in an accident near San Jose, CA. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- April 18, 2009
- Place
- San Jose, CA
- Aircraft
- Champion 7ECA · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 37.360°N, 121.671°W
- NTSB ID
- 20090419X93640
Official records · WPR09FA200
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On April 18, 2009, about 1006 Pacific daylight time, a Champion 7ECA airplane, N5174X, was substantially damaged when it impacted mountainous terrain near San Jose, California. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight. The commercial pilot and pilot rated passenger were killed. The cross-country flight originated from Watsonville Municipal Airport (WVI), Watsonville, California, about 0945, with an intended destination of Wilton, California. According to family members of the pilot, the pilot and passenger flew to Watsonville the morning of the accident in separate airplanes to drop off the passenger's airplane for maintenance. The pilot and passenger were then to return to Wilton in the accident airplane. Family members of the pilot contacted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) the evening of April 18, 2009, after becoming concerned when the pilot had not arrived at his intended destination. The FAA subsequently issued an Alert Notification at 2145. The Santa Clara County Sheriff commenced search and rescue operations throughout the area of the pilot's intended flight path. The wreckage was located by Santa Clara County Sheriff aerial units the morning of April 19, 2009 within mountainous terrain near the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton. There were no known witnesses to the accident sequence. PERSONNEL INFORMATION The pilot, age 53, held a commercial pilot certi
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering within a canyon in mountainous terrain, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin.
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Browse: California · Champion aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
