American Champion (Acac) 8GCBC N186AC

Summary

On 13 February 2004 at about 20:00 local time, a American Champion (Acac) 8GCBC registered N186AC was involved in an accident near Sunburg, Minnesota, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

13 February 2004 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Sunburg, Minnesota, United States

Coordinates

45.3583, -95.2050

Aircraft

American Champion (Acac) 8GCBC

Registration

N186AC

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Castlewood → Sunburg

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI04LA072

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's improper in-flight decision to land off-airport. A factor to the accident was the snow covered ditch.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane sustained substantial damage when it impacted a ditch and subsequently nosed over while landing on a gravel road. The pilot stated the purpose of the flight was to take aerial photographs of several Minnesota farms. The pilot reported that while in cruise flight he had the "sudden urge to use the bathroom" and he selected a nearby gravel road to land on. The pilot stated that during landing rollout he noticed a sign on the left side of the road. While he attempted to maneuver the airplane to avoid striking the sign, the right wheel "got sucked into the ditch which was full of snow." The airplane subsequently impacted the ditch and nosed over. The airplane was configured with extended range fuel system that increased the airplane's maximum endurance to approximately 7 hours. The accident flight was reported to be approximately 5 1/2 hours in duration.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.