| Crash location | 37.771111°N, 96.817223°W |
| Nearest city | El Dorado, KS
37.817240°N, 96.862252°W 4.0 miles away |
| Tail number | N68543 |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 14 May 2012 |
| Aircraft type | Bellanca 7GCAA |
| Additional details: | None |
On May 14, 2012, about 1630 central daylight time, a Bellanca 7GCAA, N68543, went off the right side of runway 15 and impacted a ditch at Captain Jack Thomas Airport (KEQA), El Dorado, Kansas. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight originated from Benton (K1K1), Kansas, about 1545.
The pilot said he was making a full-stall landing to the south with an east to west wind. Upon touchdown, he lost directional control and the airplane went off the right side of the runway and into a deep ditch. The right main landing gear separated from the airframe, and the right wing was damaged when it struck the embankment. The pilot reported no mechanical discrepancies with the airplane prior to the accident. His recommendation for preventing this accident was for him to receive additional training in the airplane and acquire more proficiency. Although he indicated he had logged 1,900 total hours and 600 hours in single-engine airplanes, he had only 1 hour in the Bellanca 7GCAA.
An examination of the airplane and related systems revealed no anomalies.
The pilot's loss of directional control during landing, which resulted in a runway excursion.