NTSB CEN11CA684 — 2011-09-03 · Fort Worth, Texas, United States

Current FAA registration · N242BC

Make / Model: AMERICAN CHAMPION AIRCRAFT 8GCBC
Year of manufacture: 2011 · 0 years old at event
Engine: LYCOMING O-360-C1G (180 hp)
Seats / Engines: 3 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 20110103
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A23789

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N242BC AMERICAN CHAMPION AIRCRAFT 8GCBC None

Probable cause & findings

The certified flight instructor’s improper flare during a simulated emergency landing.

Factual narrative

A certified flight instructor (CFI) was providing instruction to a private pilot in a tailwheel equipped airplane. During the CFI’s demonstration of a simulated emergency landing, the airplane's speed got slow and made a hard landing with the right main landing gear and right wing striking the runway surface. The airplane was then flown back to the private pilot’s home airfield without further incident. A postaccident examination of the damaged wing by the airplane’s manufacturer, revealed that the rear spar was substantially damaged during the hard landing. A certified flight instructor (CFI) was providing instruction to a private pilot in a tailwheel-equipped airplane. During the CFI’s demonstration of a simulated emergency landing, the airplane made a hard landing, and the right wing struck the runway surface. A postaccident examination revealed that the rear spar was substantially damaged during the hard landing. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

C Personnel issues-Task performance-(general)-(general)-Instructor/check pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2011_CEN11CA684.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.