Accident American Champion 7ECA Citabria Aurora N793L, Friday 12 April 2024

You can contribute by submitting additional or updated information.

Date:	Friday 12 April 2024
Time:	08:10
Type:	American Champion 7ECA Citabria Aurora
Owner/operator:	LeTourneau University
Registration:	N793L
MSN:	1409-2014
Year of manufacture:	2014
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Category:	Accident
Location:	East Texas Regional Airport (GGG/KGGG), Longview, TX - United States of America
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	Longview-East Texas Regional Airport, TX (GGG/KGGG)
Destination airport:	Longview-East Texas Regional Airport, TX (GGG/KGGG)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities

Narrative:
On April 12th, 2024, about 0810 central daylight time, an American Champion 7ECA airplane, N793L, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident at the East Texas Regional Airport (KGGG), Longview, Texas. The two pilots were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.

The pilot reported that while taxiing from the runway, the rudder felt stiff. The flight instructor commanded full right rudder and heard a audible “pop” with a simultaneous decrease in pedal resistance. The pilot’s were able to taxi the airplane to park without further incident.

An initial examination of the rudder revealed that the lower hinge fractured from the vertical spar tube, which resulted in substantial damage to the rudder.

The rudder and all attaching hardware were retained for an examination at a later date.

Accident investigation: