- Date
- September 30, 1990, 02:43 local (07:43 UTC)
- Place
- Gallatin, TN
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N81099Grumman AA5B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report March 12, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900930043269A
- Case key
- 8150
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain the proper altitude which resulted in the inadvertent descent into the ground, and his diverted attention to another airplane. Factors in the accident were fog, dark night, fatigue from lack of sleep, and a lack of recent night landings.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot & pax had returned to the home field after a long work day that began before 9 am. Upon arrival at the airport fog had covered the north threshold & the area adjacent to the rwy from the sw to the NE. Another acft was also arriving in the landing pattern. The pilot made 2 abortive attempts to land visually because he had positioned the acft too close to the rwy. The last radar position of the acft was a left downwind leg for rwy 17. The acft impacted east of the field while in a descending right turn. Fog & lack of ground lights to the north of the airport were reported by local witnesses. The pilot was probably tired, & distracted by the additional acft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N81099
- Reported as
- Grumman AA5B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- AA5B-0429
- Airframe hours
- 3,501
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4K, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Swanner, John
- Registered owner
- Trans World Artist
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 27, 1989 · 183 hours before
- Departed
- ADH · Ada, OK
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- runway 17, 5,000 × 75 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 55
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Unknown, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,150 total · 332 in this make and model · 2,031 as pilot in command · 36 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BNA, 20 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.