# Accident 20220928017289A: Grumman American Avn. Corp. AA-5B, Sahuarita, AZ, September 28, 2022

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: September 28, 2022, 09:00 local time
- Place: Sahuarita, AZ
- Airport: Flying Diamond
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Takeoff: Rotation
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 31.9374° N, 111.1244° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=31.9374&lon=-111.1244&mi=10
- Aircraft: N74349, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N74349) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Grumman American Avn. AA-5B (registry code 3960105, https://openairdocs.org/model/grumman-american-avn-aa-5b) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming O&VO-360 series (registry code 41514, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-o-vo-360-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: GRUMMAN AMERICAN AVN. CORP. AA-5B
- Reported engine: LYCOMING O&VO-360 SER
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Private pilot
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB WPR22FA361](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR22FA361) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20220928017289A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

ON SEPTEMBER 28, 2022, A 1975 GRUMMAN AMERICAN AA5, CRASHED SHORTLY DURING CLIMB OUT AFTER AN APPARENT TOUCH AND GO.  VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AT THE TIME.  THE AIRCRAFT WAS DESTROYED.  THE PILOT DID NOT SURVIVE.  THE FLIGHT ORIGINATED FROM RYAN FIELD AIRPORT (RYN).

THE AIRCRAFT WAS EXAMINED AT THE ACCIDENT SCENE THE FOLLOWING MORNING.  IT CAME TO REST JUST SOUTH AND OUTSIDE THE FLYING DIAMOND AIRPORT (6AZ8) FENCE PERIMETER.  THE AIRPORT IS PRIVATE.  EVIDENCE SUGGESTED THE AIRCRAFT DID NOT CLEAR AND HIT THE PERIMETER BARBED WIRE FENCE LOCATED AT THE END OF THE RUNWAY.  IN ADDITION, A TRAIL OF TREES WITH DAMAGED TOPS APPEARED UP TO THE POINT WHERE THE AIRCRAFT IMPACTED THE GROUND.  IT APPEARED THE LEFT WING IMPACTED THE GROUND FIRST, CARTWHEELED, AND THEN BURST INTO FLAMES.  THE IMPACT WAS APPROXIMATELY 300 FEET FROM THE END OF THE RUNWAY.  THE POST IMPACT FIRE ENGULFED AND CONSUMED THE MAJORITY OF THE COCKPIT AND FUSELAGE.  COCKPIT INDICATIONS, INSTRUMENTS AND CONTROLS WERE EITHER DESTROYED OR SEVERELY DAMAGED BY THE FIRE.  BOTH LEFT AND RIGHT WINGS WERE SEVERELY DAMAGED.  BOTH PROPELLER BLADES WERE BENT AND HAD LEADING EDGE POLISHING/SCRATCHES.  AN INSPECTION OF THE DAMAGED FLIGHT CONTROLS WHICH WERE NOT CONSUMED FROM THE POST IMPACT FIRE, SUGGESTED NO PRE-CRASH IRREGULARITIES OR DEFECTS.  THE ENGINE AND ITS ACCESSORIES WERE HEAVILY DAMAGED BY THE FIRE.  THE DAMAGE SUSTAINED TO THE PROPELLER SUGGESTED THE ENGINE WAS TURNING AND AT A HIGH RPM.

A TOXICOLOGY KIT WAS DROPPED OFF AT THE LOCAL MEDICAL EXAMINER’S OFFICE.

THERE WERE NO WITNESSES TO THE CRASH.  THE INDIVIDUAL WHO FOUND THE AIRCRAFT WAS A LOCAL RESIDENT AND PILOT WHO HAD NOTICED THE FENCE WAS DAMAGED.  HE STATED UPON INVESTIGATING, HE FOUND THE AIRCRAFT AND CALLED AUTHORITIES.

WITNESSES INTERVIEWED STATED THEY THE PILOT’S MAINTENANCE LOGBOOKS WERE ON THE AIRCRAFT, AS THE LOGBOOKS COULD NOT BE LOCATED.  A COPY OF THE AIRCRAFT’S LAST TWO ANNUAL INSPECTIONS COMPLETED 10/1/2021 AND 9/1/2020 WERE PROVIDED BY AN FBO WHERE THE PILOT HAD HIS ANNUAL INSPECTIONS COMPLETED.  A REVIEW OF THE ENTRIES DID NOT REVEAL ANY CONCERNS OR ISSUES.

THE CFI WHO PERFORMED THE PILOT’S LAST BIANNUAL STATED HE WAS PROFICIENT AND HAD NO CONCERNS OR ISSUES.

ADS-B DATA OBTAINED BY THE NTSB INVESTIGATOR SHOWED THE AIRCRAFT TOUCHING DOWN ON THE RUNWAY, SLOWING, THEN ACCELERATING TO APPROXIMATELY 79 KNOTS APPARENTLY ATTEMPTING TO TAKE OFF BEFORE IT CRASHED.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB WPR22FA361](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR22FA361), Sep 28, 2022: Grumman American Avn. AA-5B (N74349), Sahuarita, AZ, destroyed, 1 fatal. Probable cause: The pilot's loss of control following a separation of the aileron carry-through cable.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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