American Champion 7GCAA N518F

Summary

On 2 March 2012 at about 23:00 local time, a American Champion 7GCAA registered N518F, operated by Cinco de Flyo, LLC, was involved in an accident near Bedminster, New Jersey, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 March 2012 at 23:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Bedminster, New Jersey, United States

Nearest airport

Somerset Airport (SMQ)

Coordinates

40.6269, -74.6753

Aircraft

American Champion 7GCAA

Registration

N518F

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Cinco de Flyo, LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bedminster → Bedminster

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

ERA12CA204

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot receiving instruction’s inadvertent movement of the pitch trim control to the nose-down position while attempting a go-around.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor stated that he and the pilot receiving instruction were practicing traffic pattern work and had performed two simulated engine failures without incident before the accident. The flight instructor initiated a third simulated engine failure at a higher altitude than the previous two and suggested the pilot receiving instruction perform S-turns to lose altitude. During the maneuver, the airplane descended too low to complete a power-off landing to the runway, and the flight instructor told the pilot receiving instruction to perform a go-around. The flight instructor also reached for the throttle to add full power for the go-around, but the airplane abruptly pitched down and impacted the ground, substantially damaging the wings and fuselage. Postaccident examination revealed that the pitch trim control was in the full forward (nose-down) position.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.