What happened
On April 29, 2025, at 15:34 Pacific daylight time, a Champion 7ECA, registration N6310N, was destroyed following an accident near Cottonwood, California. The flight was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 as an instructional flight. The flight instructor and the student pilot receiving instruction were both fatally injured.
Prior to the accident, a witness at Red Bluff Municipal Airport (RBL) observed the two pilots. At the time of the observation, the pilot in the rear seat was undergoing instruction for a flight instructor certificate, with the roles reversed for training purposes: the rear-seated pilot was acting as the instructor, while the instructor was acting as the student.
Following the impact, first responders arrived at the scene and observed black smoke. They encountered one occupant of the aircraft walking near the wreckage. This individual, who had self-extricated, informed responders that the pilot flying had overshot the runway they were attempting to land on, subsequently applied power, and then lost control of the aircraft.
The investigation
The aircraft impacted several trees and came to rest at the base of a tree approximately 585 feet south of the departure end of runway 16 at the Flying N Ranch Airport (CA04). The initial point of contact was a 5-foot-tall fence post located about 40 feet south of the runway departure end, aligned on the extended centerline. The debris path traveled approximately 100 feet on a heading of 355° magnetic. The fuselage settled on its left side at a 10° nose-low attitude. The right wing and left main landing gear had separated from the fuselage and were located 5 to 10 feet north of the main wreckage.