Champion 7AC N81471

Summary

On 12 June 2004 at about 21:00 local time, a Champion 7AC registered N81471, operated by Keith Kemble, was involved in an accident near La Porte, California, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 June 2004 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

La Porte, California, United States

Coordinates

39.7914, -120.8036

Aircraft

Champion 7AC

Registration

N81471

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Keith Kemble

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Quincy → Susanville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX04LA239

1 person died.

the student pilot's failure to maintain clearance with trees while flying along a mountainous ravine.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was in the process of photo documenting his privately owned mine in a mountainous area when the right wing of his single engine airplane impacted a tree. The accident site was in a pine forest at the 4,900-foot level of a ravine that paralleled a small creek. The ravine was bordered to the south by a 7,200-foot mountain. According to responding law enforcement personnel, the right wing tip and aileron separated from the remainder of the airplane. The right wing tip and aileron came to rest at the base of a tree and displayed a semicircular indentation about the size of the tree top. The airplane came to rest 50 yards east of the right wing tip in a nose down pitch attitude, with its tail section jutting up into the air. Surrounding trees propped up the airplane. The student pilot rigged a camera system to the right wing strut with a remote monitoring and activation system in the cockpit. The student was not endorsed for the cross-country flight in the mountainous area, and the student's instructor discouraged the student from conducting the flight until he had completed his private pilot course and obtained some mountain flight training. Examination of the wreckage revealed no preexisting anomalies that would have prevented normal operation of the aircraft.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.