Grumman American AA-5 N7161L

Summary

On 18 July 2000 at about 20:00 local time, a Grumman American AA-5 registered N7161L, operated by Clinton J. Ford, was involved in an accident near Moab, Utah, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 July 2000 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Moab, Utah, United States

Coordinates

38.5299, -109.5497

Aircraft

Grumman American AA-5

Registration

N7161L

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Clinton J. Ford

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Moab → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN00FA136

2 people died.

The pilot in command exercising poor judgment and exceeding the aircraft's turning capability. Contributing factors were the pilots' attention being diverted, flying into a known blind canyon, high temperature, and high density altitude.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The 21 year old private pilot received his certificate 16 days before the accident, and had logged about 150 total flight hours, 67 hours in type. His 44 year old pilot rated passenger was a local charter pilot and said to be thoroughly familiar with the surrounding terrain. Both pilots were avid 'BASE jumpers' (parachuting off of Bridges, Antennas, Structures, and Earth). The purpose of the flight was to scout for possible jump sites. The elevation at the airport was 4,553 feet msl, and the temperature was 93.2 degrees F. The computed density altitude was 7,407 feet msl. The airplane wreckage was found 5 days later on a talus slope at a 'Y' between two canyons at an elevation of 4,275 feet msl, or 145 feet above the floor of the canyon. The floor of the canyon was 4,130 feet msl, and the top of the canyon was at 5,243 feet msl. Examination of the accident site indicated the pilot was attempting to reverse course out of the canyon when the airplane impacted terrain. According to BLM personnel, temperatures in the canyons are considerably higher than at the airport.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.