- Date
- December 15, 1990, 10:11 local (17:11 UTC)
- Place
- Roswell, NM
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N1638RGrumman AA1B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 8, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19901215054339A
- Case key
- 18060
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
Low cylinder compression and fouled spark plug.
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 takeoff, at an altitude of approximately 150 feet, the engine started running rough. He said that engine performance continued to deteriorate and he had to make a forced landing. The aircraft struck the ground hard and sustained substantial damage to the engine cowling and the main landing gear. Subsequent examination of the engine revealed one cylinder had fouled spark plugs and all cylinders except one had low compression.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1638R
- Reported as
- Grumman AA1B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- AA1B0638
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 108 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Guffey, Jerry D.
- Registered owner
- Unknown
- Destination
- ALM · Alamogordo, NM
- Flight plan
- VFR/IFR
- Airport
- ROW · Roswell Indust. Air Cntr.
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
- 26
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 800 total · 150 in this make and model · 760 as pilot in command · 150 in the last 90 days · 70 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 27 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.