N7DF – AMERICAN CHAMPION AIRCRAFT 8KCAB – 2012-03-04 NTSB Accident Report

On March 04, 2012, a American Champion Aircraft 8KCAB (N7DF) was involved in an incident near Beverly, MA. All 2 people aboard were uninjured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this incident to be: The pilot's loss of airplane control during takeoff, which resulted in a runway excursion.

According to the pilot, he did not align the airplane with the runway prior to applying power. Then, during the takeoff roll, the airplane drifted off the side of the runway, became airborne, impacted the grass area near the runway, and came to rest in a nose down attitude. A postaccident examination revealed that the airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage in the vicinity of the right main landing gear attachment point. The pilot did not report any mechanical abnormalities of the airplane to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector. The pilot had recently received a tailwheel endorsement.

This incident is documented in NTSB report ERA12CA220. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N7DF.