Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
La Porte, California 95981
Saturday, June 12, 2004 14:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was in the process of photo documenting his privately owned mine in a mountainous area when the right wing of his single engine airplane impacted a tree. The accident site was in a pine forest at the 4,900-foot level of a ravine that paralleled a small creek. The ravine was bordered to the south by a 7,200-foot mountain. According to responding law enforcement personnel, the right wing tip and aileron separated from the remainder of the airplane. The right wing tip and aileron came to rest at the base of a tree and displayed a semicircular indentation about the size of the tree top. The airplane came to rest 50 yards east of the right wing tip in a nose down pitch attitude, with its tail section jutting up into the air. Surrounding trees propped up the airplane. The student pilot rigged a camera system to the right wing strut with a remote monitoring and activation system in the cockpit. The student was not endorsed for the cross-country flight in the mountainous area, and the student's instructor discouraged the student from conducting the flight until he had completed his private pilot course and obtained some mountain flight training. Examination of the wreckage revealed no preexisting anomalies that would have prevented normal operation of the aircraft.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the student pilot's failure to maintain clearance with trees while flying along a mountainous ravine.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/12/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | La Porte |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95981 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 394729N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1204813W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1148 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CIC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 238 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 43 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 40 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18293 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 12 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2005 12:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-RNO-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N81471 |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA239 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Champion |
| Aircraft Model | 7AC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7AC-89 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1220 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 9 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 138.7 |
| Airframe Hours | 7706 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Donald L. Connell |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Des Moines |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98198 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Keith Kemble |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | On File |
| Operator City | Covington |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98042 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 210 |
| Departure City | Quincy |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SVE |
| Destination City | Susanville |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 11 2005 5:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |