American Champion Aircraft 7GCAA N497AC accident near Baker, California

Probable cause

The pilot's delayed decision to perform an aborted landing.

NTSB analysis

The pilot reported that he was part of a flight of three airplanes that had taken off from a nearby private dirt airstrip about 18 miles from the accident location. The pilots in the flight intended to land their airplanes in a clear area of a field. They overflew the intended 1,000-foot-long landing area to make sure it was clear. The accident pilot landed second, and, nearing the touchdown, noted that the wind was calm, but with periods of variability. He stated that a temporary tailwind of about 5 knots caused a higher ground speed on touchdown than he expected. As the airplane neared the end of the landing area, the pilot observed that the airplane had too much speed to stop in the remaining distance and an aborted landing was no longer possible. The pilot stated that he entered a left turn and let it progress to a controlled ground loop to avoid overrunning the landing area. The right wing hit a raised dirt area, and the right wing tip and spar, right aileron, and right landing gear and wheel were damaged. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR12CA043 for the full record.