American Aviation Corp (Aac) AA-1 N5664L

Summary

On 28 October 2001 at about 20:30 local time, a American Aviation Corp (Aac) AA-1 registered N5664L was involved in an accident near Batavia, Ohio, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 October 2001 at 20:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Batavia, Ohio, United States

Nearest airport

Clermont County Airport (I69)

Coordinates

39.0692, -84.1796

Aircraft

American Aviation Corp (Aac) AA-1

Registration

N5664L

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Batavia → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC02LA018

Nobody was injured.

Malfunction of an exhaust valve. A factor was the pilot/owner's failure to comply with the engine manufacturer's service instructions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After takeoff, about 300 feet above the ground, the engine began to run rough. The private pilot initially attempted to turn back toward the airport, but the flight instructor took control of the airplane, performed a forced landing, and struck trees. Subsequent examination of the engine by an FAA inspector revealed valve guide wear and coking of the valve stem on the number four cylinder exhaust valve. When the inspector repositioned the valve, it stuck in the open and closed positions. Review of the airplane logbooks revealed that the engine had accumulated 1,975.49 hours of operation since it was originally manufactured, approximately 33 years prior the accident. During that time frame, the engine was never overhauled. Additionally, the engine had accumulated 23 hours of operation since the last annual inspection, which was performed about 10 months prior to the accident. A service bulletin and service instruction from the engine manufacturer recommended that the valve guides be inspected at 400-hour intervals, and that the engine be overhauled in the 12th year if it did not accumulate the recommended hourly period of time between overhauls, which was 2,000 hours.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.