Champion 7AC accident near La Porte, California, June 12, 2004
On June 12, 2004 at about 9:00 pm local time, a Champion 7AC, registered N81471, was substantially damaged in an accident near La Porte, California. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
the student pilot's failure to maintain clearance with trees while flying along a mountainous ravine.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- June 12, 2004 · about 9:00 pm local time
- Place
- La Porte, California · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Champion 7AC · all 7ACs on the register
- Registration
- N81471 · no longer on the register · serial 7AC-89
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
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.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: student
- Flight time: 158 hours in all; 88 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: frt
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 7,706 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, September 9, 2003; 138.7 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 1,220 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental A-65-8 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: 210 Quincy CA at 8:00 pm
- Destination: SVE Susanville CA
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 40 statute miles
- Sky: a few clouds at 20,000 ft
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
- Altimeter: 29.95 inHg
- Observation at 6:48 pm from CIC, 43 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.