What happened
On October 7, 2024, at approximately 12:40 central daylight time, a Champion 7EC, registration N4337C, was involved in an accident near Fort Worth, Texas. The aircraft was being operated under 14 CFR Part 91 for personal use. The flight was intended to be a local area trip departing from Flying Oaks Airport (2TE2), with a stop for lunch at an unspecified location before returning to the home base.
Security video footage from private property on the shore of Eagle Mountain Lake captured the aircraft performing a gradual descent at approximately a 45-degree angle into the water. The airplane came to rest in a nose-down position in roughly 10 feet of water. The pilot sustained 1 fatal injury.
The investigation
The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and both wings. While the wreckage was recovered from the lake and moved to a secure location, the right wing and portions of the engine were not recovered from the water. The aircraft was equipped with a Continental Motors O-200A engine and a McCauley MCM6950 two-blade fixed-pitch aluminum propeller. Investigators found no Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data associated with the flight.