American General Acft AG5B N897GA

Summary

On 12 January 2013 at about 05:30 local time, a American General Acft AG5B registered N897GA was involved in an accident near Ankeny, Iowa, United States. One person was 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

12 January 2013 at 05:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Ankeny, Iowa, United States

Nearest airport

Ankeny Regional Airport (KIKV)

Coordinates

41.6911, -93.5664

Aircraft

American General Acft AG5B

Registration

N897GA

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cape Girardeau → Ankeny

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CEN13CA133

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain a proper glide path to the runway in gusty wind conditions and his failure to maintain clearance from obstructions during the subsequent go-around. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's improper interior lighting configuration.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that before arriving at his destination airport in night visual meteorological conditions, he listened to the automated weather observing system, which indicated wind from 220 degrees at 10 knots, gusting to 26 knots. The pilot aborted his first attempt to land after a bounced landing. During the second approach to land, the pilot observed the visual approach slope indicator rapidly transition from both white (indicating high on the glideslope) to both red (indicating low on the glideslope) and decided to perform a go-around. During the attempted go-around, the airplane’s left wing struck a tree, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing and horizontal stabilizer. The pilot then landed the airplane without further incident on his third landing attempt. The pilot stated that the airplane’s interior lighting was too bright for the night conditions and that the bright runway lights in the dark rural setting gave him a “false sense of night vision.”

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.