Grumman American Avn AA 5A N9887U

Summary

On 1 July 2015 at about 14:30 local time, a Grumman American Avn AA 5A registered N9887U was involved in an accident near Mackay, Idaho, 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

1 July 2015 at 14:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Mackay, Idaho, United States

Coordinates

43.7825, -113.7819

Aircraft

Grumman American Avn AA 5A

Registration

N9887U

Category

Airplane

Year built

1977

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Twin Falls → Challis

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA15CA153

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's disorientation in mountainous terrain and course deviation into a canyon, which resulted in the airplane's inability to out climb terrain and a forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During the second leg of a solo cross country flight, the student pilot reported that he became disoriented in mountainous terrain, and flew down a valley that he thought would lead him to his planned route. After entering the valley, the student pilot did not believe he had sufficient distance laterally to turn around, so he decided to initiate a climb to clear the ridge line in front of him. During the climb he heard the stall warning horn intermittently and realized he could not clear the ridge line ahead. The student pilot made an emergency landing into the rising terrain ahead of him and came to rest in the trees.  During a postaccident interview, the student pilot reported that he didn't realize that he lacked the training and understanding for flight into mountainous terrain. The flight instructor who endorsed the student pilot's logbook for this route of flight reported that he should have provided "actual mountain flying training prior to a solo flight over mountainous terrain." The student pilot stated there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The left wing and fuselage were substantially damaged.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.