- Date
- April 21, 2020, 13:45 local (17:45 UTC)
- Place
- Bloomingdale, GA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N314JGGrumman AA5
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 21, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20200421004549A
- Case key
- 101188
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 during landing with a gusting quartering tailwind.
Findings · 4
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
According to the pilot, he was returning to his home airport. The accident occurred during the landing attempt; the pilot could not recall the approach or accident sequence due to his injuries. According to a witness who lived near the airport, he heard the airplane and saw it fly over the midfield before it entered the left downwind leg of the traffic pattern for runway 13. He noted that the engine power was "pulled back." A few minutes later, the witness heard an impact. The airplane impacted trees and terrain on the left side of the runway and came to rest about 1,000 ft past the runway's approach end. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, both wings, and the empennage. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector who examined the wreckage stated that he found no preaccident anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. According to a report from an airport 10 miles southeast of the accident site, the wind was gusting to 18 knots.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, he had an uneventful flight to a nearby airport, and then departed to return to his home airport. The accident occurred during the subsequent landing attempt; however, the pilot did not recall the approach or accident sequence due to his injuries. According to a witness that lived near the airport, he heard the airplane and saw it fly over midfield before it entered the left downwind leg of the traffic pattern for runway 13. He noted that the engine power was "pulled back." A few minutes later, the witness heard an impact and rushed to the accident site. The airplane impacted trees and terrain on the left side of runway and came to rest about 1,000 ft from the approach end of the runway. Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that there were no anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation prior to the accident. The wind reported at an airport 10 miles to the southeast of the accident location was from 290° at 11 knots, gusting to 18 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N314JG
- Reported as
- Grumman AA5 (B)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- AA5B-0083
- Built
- 1975
- Airframe hours
- 2,297.61
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4K, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 13, 2019
- Departed
- TBR · Statesboro, GA
- Destination
- GA35 · Bloomingdale, GA
- Airport
- GA35 · Cypress Lakes, runway 13, 2,700 × 100 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, Handheld GPS, Onboard weather, Stall warning system
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
- 58
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 28, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,035 total · 1,034 in this make and model · 1,012 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 11 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.88 inHg
- Observed at
- SAV, 10 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 29, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 19.2 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.