Champion 7KCAB N9017L

Summary

On 17 March 2001 at about 14:45 local time, a Champion 7KCAB registered N9017L was involved in an accident near Ragley, Louisiana, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 March 2001 at 14:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Ragley, Louisiana, United States

Coordinates

30.5091, -93.2300

Aircraft

Champion 7KCAB

Registration

N9017L

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ragley → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW01LA082

1 person was seriously injured.

the loose clamp (Nicopress fitting) on the elevator control cable due to inadequate quality control during the cable's manufacturing, which allowed the cable to disconnect and restricted the pilot's control of the airplane during landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, after about 15 minutes of flight, the airplane was in a turn and descending slightly, when "the stick suddenly snapped back with no pressure on it." The nose immediately "ducked down" and the pilot "pulled" the trim back to raise the nose while leveling the wings. After leveling off, the pilot started back to his airstrip. On short final, he noticed that he did not have enough time and distance to achieve a steady descent with only trim tabs to control the pitch. After a "go-around", the pilot attempted to set up for a shallow approach. About 75 to 100 feet above the ground on final, the pilot felt "turbulence" and the airplane began descending quickly. The airplane then impacted the ground "pretty hard" breaking the left landing gear, skidding about 40 feet, and coming to rest in an upright position. Examination of the airplane after the accident revealed that the elevator control cable was found liberated from its "Nicopress" fitting. The elevator cable had been replaced with a new cable by the pilot, under the supervision of a A&P mechanic on February 8, 2001. According to the pilot, the new elevator cable was fabricated for him by an aircraft maintenance facility. The airplane was given an annual inspection on March 6, 2001 by the same A&P mechanic who assisted with the elevator cable installation. The last time the airplane flew prior to the accident was on March 8, 2001, when the pilot flew the airplane for about 35 minutes with no anomalies.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.