- Date
- August 1, 1991, 21:15 local (Aug 2, 1991, 02:15 UTC)
- Place
- Spearville, KS
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N6108LAmerican AA1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report December 4, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910801031169A
- Case key
- 15139
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 selection of unsuitable terrain on which to perform a precautionary landing. Factors related to the accident were poor in flight/planning decision which resulted in the pilot becoming lost/disoriented.
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 said that after encountering increasing headwinds and being unsure of his exact location, he elected to make a precautionary landing before he exhausted his fuel supply. During the ground roll, on the soft farm field, the nose wheel broke off and the aircraft nosed over.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6108L
- Reported as
- American AA1
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 0308
- Airframe hours
- 1,005
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-C2C, 108 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Elbert H. Mason
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · February 1, 1991 · 70 hours before
- Departed
- TRX · Trenton, MO
- Destination
- DDC · Dodge City, KS
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
- 75
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 5,826 total · 2,047 in this make and model · 5,013 as pilot in command · 58 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 190° at 16 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Observed at
- DDC, 10 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.