- Date
- July 13, 1987, 17:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lake Monroe, IN
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N4365CChampion 7EC
- Weather
- Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 25, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870713037399A
- Case key
- 13790
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 float equipped acft took off from Lake Monroe with 2 rated plts on board. The plt-in-command (PIC) stated that the takeoff distance may have been about 20% longer than normal. He said that after climbing about 200 to 250 ft, the coplt began a rgt turn, then 'was not able to get wing up & by the time I realized we had a problem, there was not enough time or altitude to try to do anything.' Rprtdly, the acft settled & contacted the water with its rgt wing, then sank after it crashed. An investigation revealed the acft had a history of leaking floats. Three days bfr the flt, the acft was fnd partially sunk while moored at a buoy. Prior to the flt, only the 2 front compartments of each float were pumpedout. Wt & balance info showed that without any water in the floats, the acft would have been close to its max gross wt limit & the CG would have been near the aft limit.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4365C
- Reported as
- Champion 7EC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7EC-388
- Airframe hours
- 3,111
- Engine
- Continental C-90-12F, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Torp Aero Service, Inc.
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 4, 1986
- Departed
- 071
- Airport
- 071 · Lake Monroe Spb
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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 65
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 13,300 total · 31 in this make and model · 47 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Day
- Wind
- 310° at 6 knots
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BMG, 9 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.