American Aviation Corp (Aac) AA-1A N7UX

Summary

On 6 April 2008 at about 19:10 local time, a American Aviation Corp (Aac) AA-1A registered N7UX was involved in an accident near Alabaster, Alabama, 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 April 2008 at 19:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Alabaster, Alabama, United States

Nearest airport

Shelby County Airport (EET)

Coordinates

33.1769, -86.7828

Aircraft

American Aviation Corp (Aac) AA-1A

Registration

N7UX

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Alabaster → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC08CA154

2 people had minor injuries.

The pilot's failure to utilize carburetor heat during a power off approach.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Prior to the accident, the flight instructor and student practiced "turns around a point," and "S-turns across a road" before returning to the airport to practice landings. They then completed three "touch and goes," in the American Aviation AA-1A without incident. During the downwind leg of the traffic pattern for the fourth "touch and go," the flight instructor demonstrated an "engine out procedure" by bringing the throttle to idle when the airplane was approximately midfield. He did not however, use carburetor heat and kept the throttle at idle all of the way to touchdown. After touchdown, he applied power, then rotated, and the engine "quit." There was not "enough runway left to stop," and the airplane overran the runway. The airplane struck a ditch, the nose gear collapsed and the airplane nosed over, damaging the vertical stabilizer and canopy. The airplane had been filled with automobile gasoline prior to the flight. Both the student and flight instructor stated that there had not been any mechanical problems with the airplane and a post accident examination of the engine revealed no preimpact malfunctions. A review of a carburetor-icing chart revealed that atmospheric conditions at the time of the accident were conducive to "serious icing at glide power."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.