- Date
- October 18, 1982, 17:45 local (Oct 19, 1982, 00:45 UTC)
- Place
- New River, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N9897LGrumman American AA-1B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 18, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19821018053249A
- Case key
- 71998
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
After entering the traffic pattern, the aircraft was observed in a steep descending turn from downwind to final approach. A witness reported that the pilot kept increasing the bank, while turning to final, as if to keep from overshooting the final approach course. The witness did not see the plane crash, but stated that the nose came up, just before he lost sight of the aircraft. He reported that the engine sounded normal prior to the accident. The aircraft impacted in a nose down attitude. Transverse scrape marks were found on the propeller and one blade was bent forward. A teardown of the engine was made, but no preimpact failures were evident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9897L
- Reported as
- Grumman American AA-1B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- AA1B-0497
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-C2C, 108 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Vernon I. Hart
- Registered owner
- Vernon I. Hart
- Departed
- C · Surprise, AZ
- Destination
- C · New River, AZ
- Airport
- AZ05 · Pleasant Valley Airport, runway 5L, 4,000 × 158 ft, dirt
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
- 48
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 996 total · 370 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 60 statute miles
- Temperature
- 176 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N9897L · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.