CHAMPION 7GCAA — Paradise, CA

What happened

The pilot and passenger were flying pipeline patrol to visually inspect conditions along a gas transmission line. The wreckage was found near the bottom of a canyon adjacent to the pipeline being patrolled. A camera mounted on the airplane's left forward wing strut captured video of the accident flight. The video of the flight showed that, moments before the accident, the airplane was flying above slowly rising terrain while paralleling the canyon on its right side. About 300 ft above ground level, the airplane appeared to encounter an updraft from the canyon, and, shortly after, it entered a right roll. The airplane continued rolling right and made three rotations. During the first rotation, the airplane's nose pitched down, and, during the second and third rotations, the airplane's nose maintained a constant descent angle before colliding with terrain. The video revealed that all of the flight controls were intact and that the engine was operating with power at the time of the accident. The video did not reveal any evidence of an airplane malfunction. Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.