American Champion 8KCAB N538EE

Summary

On 2 May 2025 at about 21:38 local time, a American Champion 8KCAB registered N538EE was involved in an accident near Mojave, California, 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

2 May 2025 at 21:38

Classification

Accident

Location

Mojave, California, United States

Nearest airport

Mojave Air and Space Port/Ruta (KMHV)

Coordinates

35.0569, -118.1483

Aircraft

American Champion 8KCAB

Registration

N538EE

Category

Airplane

Year built

2022

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Van Nuys → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR25LA149

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack during climb out from an aborted landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that after landing in the tailwheel equipped airplane, he was having difficulty maintaining the runway centerline. He therefore decided to abort the landing and added power. During takeoff, he noticed the airplane had difficulty climbing and was drifting off the runway heading. Subsequently, he turned back toward the runway and subsequently the airplane when into a stall and impacted nose down. During the accident sequence, substantial damage was sustained to the wings. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact failures or malfunctions of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.