Champion 7GC N7697E

Summary

On 29 November 1983 at about 15:00 local time, a Champion 7GC registered N7697E, operated by Arthur C Horr, was involved in an accident near Douglas, Wyoming, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

29 November 1983 at 15:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Douglas, Wyoming, United States

Coordinates

42.7502, -105.3895

Aircraft

Champion 7GC

Registration

N7697E

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Arthur C Horr

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Aerial Observation

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Douglas → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

Unk

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN84FA031

1 person died.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE PLT TOOK OFF ON AN AERIAL OBSERVATION FLT TO SPOT CATTLE IN A MOUNTAINOUS AREA. WHEN HE FAILED TO RETURN, A SEARCH WAS INITIATED. THE PLANE WAS FOUND IN A VALLEY BETWEEN 2 MOUNTAIN RANGES. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE ACFT HAD CRASHED WHILE IN A STEEP NOSE-LOW ATTITUDE. THERE WAS NO LONGITUDINAL GROUND SCAR, THE ENG WAS EMBEDDED IN A 30 INCH CRATER & CONTROL CONTINUITY WAS ESTABLISHED FROM ALL CONTROL SURFACES TO THE COCKPIT AREA. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION WAS EVIDENT. THE 0750 MST WX AT DOUGLAS, WY (ELEVATION 4876 FT) WAS IN PART: 2000 FT OVERCAST, VISIBILITY 20 MI. THE ELEVATION OF THE CRASH SITE WAS ABOUT 7500 FT. THE ARPT MANAGER NOTED 'A CURTAIN OF SNOW SHOWERS OR BLOWING SNOW' TOWARDS THE MOUNTAINS WHERE THE THE PLANE CRASHED. ALSO, HE STATED THE MOUNTAIN TOPS WERE OBSCURED.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.