- Date
- October 29, 2000, 15:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Greeley, CO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N41RCGrumman American AA-1A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20001029019049A
- Case key
- 50557
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
Carburetor ice formation due to the pilot's improper use of the carburetor heat control. Factors were the fence and fence post.
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 made a touch and go landing. During climbout, the engine lost power. During the forced landing approach to an airport access road, the airplane struck a fence post and barbed wire. The engine then regained power, and the pilot taxied back to the ramp. A mechanic said he suspected carburetor ice as the cause of the power loss. The pilot said he applied carburetor heat towards the end of the approach for the touch and go landing, and closed it prior to lifting off. The temperature and dew point were 19 degrees C. and -4 degrees C., respectively. According to the Carburetor Icing Graph, this temperature/dew point combination is on the outer fringes of SERIOUS ICING AFFECTS GLIDE OR CRUISE POWER arc.
Factual narrative
On October 29, 2000, at approximately 1500 mountain standard time, a Grumman American AA-1A, N41RC, sustained substantial damage when it struck a fence during a forced landing in a field north of Greeley-Weld County Airport, Greeley, Colorado. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for this local personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated from the Fort Collins/Loveland Airport approximately 1400.
According to the pilot's accident report and information obtained from the airport manager, the pilot made a touch and go landing. During the climbout, the engine lost power. He turned left and "glided under minimal power" towards the airport. He "brushed the top of a fence post and clipped the upper barb[ed] wire strands," and landed on an access road. The engine regained power, and the pilot taxied back to the ramp. The airplane sustained damage to both ailerons and one aileron attachment point.
The pilot had the airplane inspected by a mechanic and "carburetor ice was suspected as the cause." The pilot said he applied carburetor heat towards the end of the approach for the touch and go landing, and closed it prior to lifting off.
According to the Greeley AWOS-3 observation taken at 1455 mst, the temperature and dew point were 19 degrees C. (66 degrees F.) and -4 degrees C. (25 degrees F.), respectively. According to the Carburetor Icing Graph, this temperature/dew point combination is on the outer fringes of SERIOUS ICING AFFECTS GLIDE OR CRUISE POWER arc.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N41RC
- Reported as
- Grumman American AA-1A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- AA1A-0143
- Airframe hours
- 1,753
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-C2C, 108 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Daniel L. Black
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 4, 2000 · 19 hours before
- Departed
- FNL · Fort Collins, CO
- Destination
- GXY
- Airport
- GXY · Greeley-Weld County, runway 34, 10,000 × 100 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
- 47
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 412 total · 17 in this make and model · 17 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GXY
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.