- Date
- June 10, 2022, 06:50 local (11:50 UTC)
- Place
- Granite Falls, MN
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N9207LAmerican AA-1A
- Defining event
- Approach: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration, Minneapolis FSDO
- FAA report
- 20220610005489A
- Case key
- 105242
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 airplane control while in the airport traffic pattern that resulted in an uncontrolled descent and impact with terrain.
Findings · 1
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that he had returned to the airport for landing after conducting a local personal flight. He was performing a lefthand traffic pattern and was turning from base leg to final approach when the airplane departed controlled flight and impacted a flat dirt field. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported that he did not remember any of the events after the airplane entered the airport traffic pattern except for radio calls that he made and that the airplane operated normally during the flight. A postaccident examination revealed no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The private pilot of the personal flight stated that the takeoff from the departure airport was “smooth,” and he climbed the airplane to about 2,300 ft. and performed several maneuvers. He then decided to return to the departure airport for landing. The airplane impacted a flat dirt field and sustained substantial damage to the right wing and vertical stabilizer. He did not remember any of the events after the airplane entered the airport traffic pattern except for radio calls that he made. The pilot stated that the airplane was operating normally during the flight. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal airplane operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9207L
- Reported as
- American AA-1A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- AA1A-0107
- Built
- 1971
- Airframe hours
- 2,807
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2A, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 16, 2022
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- GDB · Granite Falls Municipal Airport/Lenzen-Roe-Fagen Memorial Field, runway 33, 4,357 × 75 ft
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Handheld GPS, ADS-B
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
- 67
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 6, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 131 total · 58 in this make and model · 38 as pilot in command · 18 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.93 inHg
- Observed at
- GDB, 0.75 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 23, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.8 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.