ERA25LA147
2025-03-18 · Palmetto, Florida, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport 48X
Current FAA registration · N1369E
- Make / Model
- CHAMPION 7AC
- Seats / Engines
- 2 seats · 1 engine
- Last airworthiness date
- 19560716
- ADS-B equipped
- Yes — Mode-S A09513
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The flight instructor’s inability to overpower control inputs made by the student pilot during initial climb, which resulted in the airplane impacting powerlines and the ground.
Factual narrative
The instructional flight was the student pilot’s second ever flight. The flight instructor reported that he was flying the airplane for the takeoff and initial climb. During the departure, the “nervous” student pilot grabbed the control stick and applied full left aileron input. The flight instructor tried to regain control of the airplane but was unsuccessful. The airplane subsequently struck power lines at a height of about 25 ft above ground level before impacting the ground. The flight instructor and the student were seriously injured and both of the airplane’s wings, the fuselage, and the empennage were substantially damaged during the accident. A postaccident examination of the airplane’s flight controls revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation, nor did the flight instructor report any. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.
- — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Unnecessary action-Student/instructed pilot
- — Personnel issues-Physical-Physical characteristic-Strength-Instructor/check pilot
- — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Lateral/bank control-Not attained/maintained
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2025_ERA25LA147.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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