FTW03FA071

The personal flight originated as a flight of two airplanes. The father of the passenger flying in the trail position was flying the lead airplane on a local formation flight. The pilot of a Cessna 120 departed first and kept looking back to observe the position of the trailing aircraft. During the climb out, the pilot of the lead airplane observed an airplane below and behind him entering a spin to the right. The lead pilot failed to recognize the spinning airplane as his trailing aircraft. After being unable to contact the trail airplane, the pilot contacted the tower and reported that the airplane may have gone down. The wreckage of the airplane was found in an open meadow within 4 miles of the departure end of the runway. Signatures of the damage sustained by the airplane were consistent with a flat spin to the right. The non-instrument rated private pilot had accumulated a total of 125 hours of flight, with approximately 50 hours in the accident airplane. The local fire department was alerted as to the possibility of an aircraft accident at 1359; however the aircraft was not located from the air until 1427, approximately 41 minutes after the accident. The airplane ELT was found in the off position with an expired battery. Flight control continuity was established to all flight control surfaces. The engine was satisfactorily ran for over 12 minutes following the recovery of the airplane. No anomalies were found with the engine or airplane that would have prevented normal operation. No evidence of an in-flight fire was found either on the airframe on the pilot. There was no evidence of an in-flight fire was found.

History of flight

On January 2, 2003, at 1346 central standard time, a Grumman American AA-1A single-engine airplane, N9226L, was destroyed upon impact with terrain following a lost of control during initial takeoff climb near Shreveport, Louisiana. The non-instrument rated private pilot and his passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed throughout the area for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. No flight plan was filed for the local flight that originated as a flight of two airplanes, from the Shreveport Downtown Airport (DTN) at 1342.

According to the air traffic control tower personnel at the DTN airport, the airplane was cleared for takeoff at 1342, as a flight of two airplanes, in which N2481N, a Cessna 120 airplane, was the lead aircraft, and N9226L, was the trail airplane. The pilot of the lead airplane maintained radio contact with the trail airplane, and he observed the trail airplane during his takeoff roll. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot of the trail airplane reported the he was in trail about a mile behind the lead airplane. About 10 to 15 seconds later, the pilot of the lead airplane reported that he looked back to determined the location of the trail airplane. He observed an airplane, which he did not immediately recognize, entering a spin to the right; however, he did not observe the airplane impact the terrain.

A few seconds later, the lead pilot reported to the DTN tower that "N9226L may have gone down." Two additional airplanes circled the area looking for the missing airplane. The wreckage of N9226L was located at 1427.

Personnel information

The pilot received his private pilot certificate with an airplane single engine land rating on August 19, 1977. According to the pilot's logbook, he accumulated a total of 50.5 flight hours prior to discontinuing his flying, and on March 5, 2000, the pilot started flying again in a Cessna 152. On April 19, 2001, the pilot purchased N9226L. According to his logbook, the pilot had accumulated a total of 125.1flight hours as of his last entry on the logbook on November 30, 2002. The pilot was estimated to have accumulated a total of 49.6 hours in the accident airplane. The pilot completed his most recent biennial flight review (BFR) on August 4, 2002, in the accident aircraft. The pilot's most current FAA medical examination was completed on April 9, 2002. He was issued an FAA Third Class medical certificate, with a restriction to wearing corrected lenses for near and intermediate vision.

Aircraft information

The 1971-model airplane, serial number AA1A-0126, was manufactured by Grumman American Aircraft. The normal category airplane was registered to the owner on June 7, 2001. The most recent annual inspection was completed on July 22, 2002, at 823.2 aircraft hours (tachometer time), approximately 16.22 hours prior to the accident.

The airplane was powered with a 4-cylinder Lycoming O-235-C2C engine, serial number L-10526-15, rated at 115 horsepower. The engine was driving a fixed pitch, all metal, 2-bladed McCauley propeller, model number SCM 71575, serial number G16035. A review of the maintenance records revealed, the engine accumulated a total of 2,894.72 hours, with 159.32 hours since its last engine overhaul.

According to data provided by several sources, the airplane had been previously involved in a mishap on July 20, 2001. The previous mishap was reported to be the result of fuel starvation due to a defective or improperly installed fuel selector valve, which resulted in a forced landing near Monroe, Louisiana No records of the reported accident were available in the NTSB or FAA accident database. As result of the mishap, the airplane was reported to been out of service until May 2002. All necessary repairs were performed at a repair station at the DTN airport.

Communications

The pilot of the Cessna 120 aircraft reported that he had been communicating with the accident airplane on 123.45. No distress calls were received from the pilot of the accident airplane on either 123.45 or on the tower frequency.

Wreckage and impact information

The Global Positioning System (GPS) location of the accident site, provided by a member of the Sheriff Department, was recorded at 32 degrees 35 minutes and 35 seconds north latitude and 93 degrees, 45 minutes, 56 seconds west longitude.

The airplane impacted the ground in a 100-foot wide pasture, which was oriented on a measured heading of 340 and 160 degrees magnetic heading. The ground was soft with several saturated sections. The nose and main landing gear tires made ground impressions varying in depth from 8 to 12 inches deep. The aircraft impacted the ground and came to rest on a measured heading of 280 degrees, approximately 4 nautical miles from the departure end of the runway at DTN.

The engine remained partially attached to the airframe. The two top engine mounts separated from the airframe at the airframe mounting point as the attaching hardware pulled out of the honeycomb. The engine was found canted forward about 30 degrees nose low. No evidence of a catastrophic engine failure was noted. The barrel of the #3 cylinder showed evidence of exposure to high heat (paint peeling and bluing). Engine control continuity was established to the throttle, mixture control and carburetor heat. The mixture control was found in the full rich position, the throttle was found in the closed position, and the carburetor heat was found in the cold/off position.

Five quarts of oil were present in the engine crankcase. The oil had an olive-green color and appeared to be clean. The propeller was rotated by hand and continuity to the engine accessory section was confirmed. The oil filter canister was removed from the aircraft and opened for inspection during the engine examination. No metal chips or any other contaminants were found within the paper elements of the oil filter.

The propeller remained attached to the engine. The bottom half of the chromed spinner dome was found crushed inwards and did not show any evidence or signatures of rotational damage. No leading edge damage was found on either propeller blade. One propeller blade was found slightly bend aft about 5 to 10 degrees. The other blade was undamaged.

Approximately 2.5 ounces of straw colored fuel were drained from the carburetor bowl during the engine examination.

The muffler and some of the exhaust pipes were crushed; however, the carburetor remained attached to the engine, and appeared to be undamaged.

The windshield assembly was not compromised and was found separated from the aircraft. The sliding canopy, reported to have been removed by the first responders, was found in the closed and locked position at the time of the accident. The fuselage was buckled in several areas. The underside of the airplane was crushed upwards.

Both wings remained attached to the airframe. There was no leading edge damage to either or the wings or the horizontal stabilizers. The wings were buckled and pushed upward. The flaps were found extended to the 2/3 (two third) position. The elevator trim indicator in the cockpit was found in the neutral position; however, the elevator trim was found in the full up (nose down) position.

All flight control surfaces, with the exception of the rudder and vertical stabilizer, remained attached to their respective surfaces. Flight control continuity was established to the elevators, rudder, and ailerons. The vertical stabilizer and the rudder were found partially separated to the airframe, and rotated towards the left side of the airframe.

The nose landing gear was folded in the aft direction. The nose gear tire was destroyed by a minor post-impact fire. The main landing gears were pushed up into the skin for the lower portion of