History of Flight
On June 29, 2018, at about 1245 mountain daylight time, a Champion 7GCAA airplane, registration N9026L, impacted terrain while maneuvering near Arthur, Nebraska. The airplane was operated by Last Pass Aviation under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight. The commercial pilot was fatally injured, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight departed from Thomas County Airport (TIF) in Thedford, Nebraska, around 1115, without a flight plan. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed.
The pilot was performing aerobatic maneuvers at a cattle branding event. A witness reported that after completing a loop and a rolling maneuver, the airplane entered a vertical climb, then rolled left and descended in a series of left-turning spins before hitting the ground.
Personnel Information
The 28-year-old pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with airplane single- and multi-engine land and instrument ratings, as well as a flight instructor certificate with similar ratings. He was issued an FAA second-class medical certificate on June 26, 2018, with a restriction for corrective lenses. The pilot had recently begun training for agricultural application operations, logging about 30 hours in an Air Tractor AT502.
According to an insurance application from March 2018, the pilot reported 1,100 hours of aerobatic flight experience in the accident airplane make and model, primarily from instructing spin, aerobatic, and upset recovery training at a flight school in California. His personal logbook was not available for review.
Before the accident flight, the pilot told his father that he had felt very ill and nauseated during an earlier flight that day due to significant turbulence. He also informed a friend at the event that he might not be able to perform the flyover.
Aircraft Information
The two-seat, high-wing, fixed-gear Champion 7GCAA was manufactured in 1970 and equipped with a Lycoming O-320-A2B engine and a McCauley two-blade, fixed-pitch propeller. Its last annual inspection occurred on October 2, 2017, at an airframe total time of 6,507 hours and 2,194 hours since engine overhaul. The accident happened about 26 flight hours after that inspection.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The airplane struck a grassy meadow with no postimpact fire. Both wings remained upright but showed significant crushing and deformation. The empennage was twisted to the left, with the outer edge of the left elevator near the left aileron. The engine was partially buried at an approximate 30° angle relative to the terrain. The left gear strut was significantly deformed.
The propeller remained attached. One blade, buried in the ground, was nearly straight with minimal damage or polishing. The other blade, exposed, was twisted aft about 180° with polishing and chordwise gouges.
Flight control surfaces stayed attached, and control cable continuity was confirmed to all surfaces with no anomalies. Examination of the engine revealed normal power train continuity, thumb compression and suction on all cylinders, and no anomalies via borescope. Spark plugs showed dark gray color and normal wear patterns. Magnetos sparked normally. The carburetor bowl was impact-damaged with no fuel present. Fuel and oil screens were clear of contaminants. The exhaust system was impact-damaged but the heat muff was intact. No evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation was found.
Medical and Pathological Information
An autopsy performed by the Regional West Medical Center Pathology Department listed the cause of death as blunt force injuries. Toxicology testing at the FAA Forensic Sciences Laboratory was negative for drugs and alcohol.