American Champion 7KCAB N5065X
23 February 2010 · Greeley, Colorado, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 23 February 2010 at about 22:00 local time, a American Champion 7KCAB registered N5065X, operated by Charles P. Riesselmann, was involved in an accident near Greeley, Colorado, 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.
The record
- Date
- at 22:00
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Greeley, Colorado, United States
- Nearest airport
- Greeley-Weld County (GXY)
- Coordinates
- 40.4192, -104.6333
- Aircraft
- American Champion 7KCAB
- Registration
- N5065X
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Charles P. Riesselmann
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Greeley → Greeley
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- CEN10LA198
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Probable cause
An in-flight failure of the wing fabric for undetermined reasons.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The pilot was practicing steep turns around a point at 7,500 feet mean sea level. During one of the turns, he heard an unusual sound and saw something falling away from the aircraft. He then noticed a piece of fabric “flapping” in the slipstream at the trailing edge of the right aileron. The airplane developed a slight sink rate, but the engine and flight controls operated normally. He returned to the airport and made an uneventful landing. Postflight inspection disclosed that nearly 80 percent of the fabric on the top of the right wing had separated, and several ribs were damaged when the rivets separated with the fabric. Several other ribs were distorted from slipstream. The airplane had been used for spotting fish in Alaska. According to the maintenance records, the airframe was last recovered on July 21, 2003, at a total time of 3,894.0 hours. Fabric punch tests since the recovering had been satisfactory.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other American Champion 7 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 Jun 2010 | American Champion 7GCBC | Arcola, Texas, United States | Stearman Ventures Ltd | No injuries | - |
| 15 May 2010 | American Champion 7GCBC | Glens Falls, New York, United States | Esmi Flight Services LLC | No injuries | - |
| 8 Apr 2010 | American Champion 7GCAA | Creve Couer, Missouri, United States | Cary Fletcher | No injuries | - |
| 17 Oct 2011 | American Champion 7AC | Berkley, Massachusetts, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 3 Jul 2011 | American Champion 7GCBC | Hayti, South Dakota, United States | - | Fatal | 3 |
| 4 Apr 2009 | American Champion 7GCAA | Monterey, California, United States | Monterey Bay Aviation | No injuries | - |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Dec 2010 | Beechcraft B60 | Edwards, Colorado, United States | - | Fatal | 2 |
| 25 Jun 2010 | Airborne OUTBACK | Denver, Colorado, United States | Alfring GIL | No injuries | - |
| 8 Dec 2010 | Diamond DA 40 | Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States | Doss Aviation Inc | No injuries | - |
| 28 Apr 2010 | Beechcraft 35 | Boulder, Colorado, United States | Curtis Charles | No injuries | - |
| 22 Dec 2010 | Mooney M20E | Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States | - | Fatal | 2 |
| 19 Jun 2010 | Remos G3/600 | Trinidad, Colorado, United States | First Jet Now LLP | Minor injuries | - |