Grumman American AA-1 N5903L

Summary

On 6 July 2004 at about 19:00 local time, a Grumman American AA-1 registered N5903L was involved in an accident near Batavia, Ohio, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

6 July 2004 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Batavia, Ohio, United States

Nearest airport

Clermont County (I69)

Coordinates

39.0783, -84.2100

Aircraft

Grumman American AA-1

Registration

N5903L

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Batavia → Batavia

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC04LA158

2 people had minor injuries.

The pilot's inadequate preflight preparation which failed to assure the takeoff performance needed to out climb obstacles. Factors in this accident were the up sloping runway, the high density altitude, and airplane being loaded above it's maximum gross weight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot and passenger were departing from runway 22, a 3,568-foot-long, asphalt runway. The airplane stopped climbing after reaching an altitude of about 30 feet, and the pilot then realized that he would not clear trees located at the end of a soybean field, beyond the runway. The pilot attempted to land in the soybean field, however, the airplane flipped over. Witnesses reported that the airplane did not become airborne until the last third of the runway. The airplane's nose was pitched up higher than usual, and the airplane cleared the airport boundary fence by only 5 to 10 feet. The airplane was equipped with a 108-horsepower engine. A weight and balance calculation performed after the accident revealed that the airplane was about 100 pounds above it's maximum gross takeoff weight. In addition, the runway sloped upward, approximately 30 feet, between the respective touchdown zones of runways 22 and 4. The weather reported at an airport about 10 miles west of the accident site, included calm winds, and a temperature and dew point of 86 and 68 degrees F, respectively; which corresponded with a density altitude of about 3,000 feet. The pilot reported that the airplane's outside air temperature gauge indicated 33.1 degrees C (91 degrees F).

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.