Grumman American Avn AA-5 N6532L

Summary

On 16 September 2006 at about 04:15 local time, a Grumman American Avn AA-5 registered N6532L, operated by RI Flying Club, was involved in an accident near Watsonville, California, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 September 2006 at 04:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Watsonville, California, United States

Nearest airport

Watsonville (WVI)

Coordinates

36.9372, -121.7939

Aircraft

Grumman American Avn AA-5

Registration

N6532L

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

RI Flying Club

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fullerton → San Jose

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

LAX06CA294

Nobody was injured.

A loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's inadequate preflight planning, en route fuel consumption calculations, and in-flight decision to continue to the destination instead of stopping en route for fuel.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During cruise flight the engine lost power and the airplane impacted several objects in a residential area about 2,000 feet from the airport during an attempted forced landing. The flight was 310 nautical miles. The pilot said that during the preflight he visually checked the fuel levels, which were near the top in both tanks. He calculated his time en route based on a no-wind condition as 2.58 hours, with 38 gallons of fuel and an 8-gallon per hour fuel burn. Prior to departure, he checked weather, which showed that he would encounter 10- to 15-knot headwinds. He reported that two of the flight's legs were longer than he had planned by a total of 35 minutes. He had begun to worry about the airplane's fuel state and had briefly considered a fuel stop short of his destination to refuel. During the descent to his destination airport, the pilot switched the fuel selector to the right fuel tank and the engine lost power. He switched to the left tank, the engine started again, but then lost power. The pilot attempted a forced landing at an uncontrolled airport, but the airplane did not have sufficient altitude to make the runway, and it landed in a residential area short of the airport. A deputy who responded to the accident site noted that there was no smell of fuel around the airplane and the left wing fuel tank was empty. The right wing had separated during the accident sequence. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical anomalies encountered with the airplane or engine.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.