3 Apr 2016: CHAMPION 7ECA NO SERIES — Jerry D. Barnhill

3 Apr 2016: CHAMPION 7ECA NO SERIES — Jerry D. Barnhill

No fatalities • Kinder, LA, United States

Probable cause

The pilot's selection of an unsuitable landing area, resulting in a loss of directional control during landing, an airstrip excursion, impact with a fence and the subsequent airplane fire.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

According to the pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane, after performing a local flight, he made a normal approach to a dirt and grass covered airstrip. He reported that he executed a wheel landing and the airplane veered left of the airstrip heading as the left main landing gear began to sink into the mud. The airplane struck a barbed wire fence and came to rest nose down in a water filled ditch. The pilot reported that he shut off the aircraft systems and he and his passenger exited the airplane, however he reported that he did see fuel leaking from the fuel tanks as a result of the angle at which the airplane came to rest. The pilot recounted that as he and his passenger were walking away from the airplane they heard the fuel ignite and the airplane became engulfed with flames. The airplane sustained substantial fire damage to the wings and fuselage.

The pilot reported that there were no mechanical failures or anomalies with the airplane prior to or during the flight that would have prevented normal flight operation.

Contributing factors

  • cause Directional control — Not attained/maintained
  • cause Pilot
  • cause Pilot
  • cause Pilot
  • Contributed to outcome

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 130/04kt, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.