Champion 7KCAB N1682G

Summary

On 22 August 2018 at about 23:15 local time, a Champion 7KCAB registered N1682G, operated by Three Point Partners Inc, was involved in an accident near Descanso, California, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 August 2018 at 23:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Descanso, California, United States

Nearest airport

Gillespie Field (SEE)

Coordinates

32.9578, -116.6978

Aircraft

Champion 7KCAB

Registration

N1682G

Category

Airplane

Year built

1968

Operator

Three Point Partners Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

El Cajon → El Cajon

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR18FA237

2 people died.

The pilot's decision to enter a spin without sufficient altitude to recover. Also causal to the accident was the pilot's inadequate preflight weight and balance calculations, which placed the airplane outside the normal and acrobatic category flight envelope, effecting the spin and recovery characteristics.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and the pilot receiving instruction were conducting an instructional flight for spin training. About 15 minutes into the flight, the radar data showed the airplane in a slight left turn at about 2,400 ft agl, then enter a right 360o decreasing turn before dropping off radar. The last radar hit was about 1,500 ft above the accident site. The airplane's final maneuver and rapid descent are consistent with a spin entry. The FAA Advisory Circular AC 61-67C, Stall and Spin Awareness Training, provides information that reports spin avoidance, incipient spins, actual spin entry, spin, and spin recovery techniques should be practiced from an altitude above 3,500 feet AGL. Examination of the accident site revealed the airplane impacted terrain in a right wing and nose down attitude. Examination of the wreckage revealed no anomalies with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. Damage to the airplane's fuel tanks indicated that they contained fuel at the time of impact. Damage to the propeller revealed varying degrees of impact damage consistent with some degree of engine power at the time of impact. According to the weight and balance calculations, the airplane exceeded its maximum gross weight at takeoff by 73 lbs and the center of gravity was outside the acrobatic flight envelope. This could have affected the spin and recovery characteristics and may have degraded or enhanced the spin maneuver. It was not determined if either pilot was aware of the weight and balance of the airplane.   Although the flight instructor had postmortem evidence of atherosclerotic disease that could pose a risk to flight safety, there was no evidence of an acute cardiac event. For both pilots, toxicology testing showed small amounts of ethanol in cavity blood and muscle, but not in brain tissue. Thus, it is likely that the ethanol is due to postmortem production and not consumption of ethanol prior to the flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.