American Champion 8KCAB N878AC

Summary

On 10 September 2011 at about 13:45 local time, a American Champion 8KCAB registered N878AC was involved in an accident near Leesburg, Virginia, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

10 September 2011 at 13:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Leesburg, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Leesburg Executive (JYO)

Coordinates

39.0778, -77.5575

Aircraft

American Champion 8KCAB

Registration

N878AC

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Leesburg → Leesburg

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA11CA488

Nobody was injured.

The pilot did not follow the engine start checklist.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that he went through the normal pre-flight and engine start checklist. To start the engine, he performed the following steps: mixture set full on (rich), fuel pump turned on for about 3 seconds (then off), mixture full off, throttle full open, and starter engaged. The engine started, and he pushed the mixture full on. The engine went to full power, and the airplane nosed down onto the taxiway, which resulted in the propeller striking the ground and the airplane’s firewall sustaining substantial damage. The pilot stated that, after review of the situation, it was apparent that he had not followed the starting checklist accurately in that the throttle should have been set to 1/2-inch open for starting instead of full open. He also stated that he should have placed his hand on the throttle immediately after the mixture control was pushed full on in order to retard the throttle after the engine started.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.