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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 ↗.