Champion 7-GCBC N9677S

Summary

On 19 January 1997 at about 20:40 local time, a Champion 7-GCBC registered N9677S, operated by Cottage Grove Aviation, was involved in an accident near Creswell, Oregon, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 January 1997 at 20:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Creswell, Oregon, United States

Coordinates

43.8992, -123.0203

Aircraft

Champion 7-GCBC

Registration

N9677S

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Cottage Grove Aviation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cottage Grove → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA97FA049

2 people died.

the pilot exceeded the design stress limits of the aircraft, while recovering from a spin, which resulted in failure and separation of the right wing tip and adjacent wing fabric (skin).

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The 7-GCBC Champion was observed engaged in repeated spin maneuvers. A witness reported observing that 'the plane was heading straight down spinning clockwise again' and 'was close to the elevation where it pulled out the first time. (That's) when I saw a piece of the plane come off.' This was the pilot's fifth flight since checking out in the aircraft (3.4 hours total flight time). According to witnesses, spins were conducted on all five flights. Postcrash examination revealed that the outboard right wing tip cap and some attached wing fabric had separated from the aircraft during flight. The examination also revealed that the forward and aft right wing spar structure were at the ground impact site of the fuselage. The right wing forward spar displayed upwards bending deformation and splintering just outboard of the forward wing strut attach point. NTSB records indicated the aircraft had been involved in an accident on 6/13/77 in Alaska; however, no aircraft records could be located to ascertain the extent of the damage, if any, to the right wing. An examination of the right wing spar structure revealed that it was within dimensional tolerances set by the manufacturer.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.