American Champion 7GCAA N497AC

Summary

On 15 November 2011 at about 23:30 local time, a American Champion 7GCAA registered N497AC, operated by William McClellan, was involved in an accident near Baker, California, United States. 2 people were 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

15 November 2011 at 23:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Baker, California, United States

Nearest airport

Dirt Strip (na)

Coordinates

35.0419, -116.3028

Aircraft

American Champion 7GCAA

Registration

N497AC

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

William McClellan

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Llano → Baker

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR12CA043

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's delayed decision to perform an aborted landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he was part of a flight of three airplanes that had taken off from a nearby private dirt airstrip about 18 miles from the accident location. The pilots in the flight intended to land their airplanes in a clear area of a field. They overflew the intended 1,000-foot-long landing area to make sure it was clear. The accident pilot landed second, and, nearing the touchdown, noted that the wind was calm, but with periods of variability. He stated that a temporary tailwind of about 5 knots caused a higher ground speed on touchdown than he expected. As the airplane neared the end of the landing area, the pilot observed that the airplane had too much speed to stop in the remaining distance and an aborted landing was no longer possible. The pilot stated that he entered a left turn and let it progress to a controlled ground loop to avoid overrunning the landing area. The right wing hit a raised dirt area, and the right wing tip and spar, right aileron, and right landing gear and wheel were damaged. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.