- Date
- July 28, 2003, 18:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Buffalo, SD
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N9032LChampion 7GCBC
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20030728016889A
- Case key
- 57597
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The instructor pilot's inadequate remedial action to the dual student's loss of aircraft control during high speed taxiing which lead to the inadvertent ground loop/swerve. A factor was the student not maintaining aircraft control.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The tail wheel equipped airplane sustained substantial damage when it ground looped during a high speed taxi. The instructor stated, "The aircraft started to go right, and I assisted the student in straightening it by applying a small amount of left brake. Then the aircraft started to swerve violently to the left, and I applied full right brake, which didn't stop the motion but may have kept the wing from hitting the ground. We made approximately a half circle, turning about 135 [degrees], managing to stay on the runway the whole time. ... We were using Runway 30 with a light east wind." The instructor reported no mechanical malfunctions prior to the accident and stated that the aircraft sustained damage to the airframe tubing during the accident.
Factual narrative
On July 28, 2003, about 1800 central daylight time, a Champion 7GCBC, N9032L, piloted by a commercial rated instructor pilot, sustained substantial damage when it ground looped during a high speed taxi at Harding County Airport (9D2), near Buffalo, South Dakota. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The instructor and the dual student reported no injuries. The 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight was not operating on a flight plan. The local flight was originating at the time of the accident.
The instructor pilot reported:
We were practicing fast taxi for directional control. The aircraft
had slowed enough that the tail was on the ground but we were still
going fairly fast (25-30 mph indicated). The aircraft started to go right,
and I assisted the student in straightening it by applying a small
amount of left brake. Then the aircraft started to swerve violently
to the left, and I applied full right brake, which didn't stop the
motion but may have kept the wing from hitting the ground. We
made approximately a half circle, turning about 135 [degrees],
managing to stay on the runway the whole time. The aircraft never
left the ground. We were using Runway 30 with a light east wind.
The instructor reported no mechanical malfunctions prior to the accident and stated that the aircraft sustained damage to the airframe tubing during the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9032L
- Reported as
- Champion 7GCBC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 259-70
- Airframe hours
- 1,820
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Robert W Johnson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Aerobatic; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 16, 2003 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- 9D2 · Buffalo, SD
- Airport
- 9D2 · Harding County, runway 30, 3,900 × 60 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 22
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- February 18, 2003
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 498 total · 69 in this make and model · 388 as pilot in command · 136 in the last 90 days · 32 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Injuries
- None
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 14 total · 12 in this make and model · 14 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 70° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.96 inHg
- Observed at
- K2WX
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.