- Date
- February 27, 1985, 22:39 local (Feb 28, 1985, 03:39 UTC)
- Place
- Horseshoe Beach, FL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9228LGrumman American AA-5
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850227040689A
- Case key
- 31232
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
The acft crashed in the gulf of Mexico while the plt was on a night x-country flt. The wx at the destination had been forcast to be IFR. However, in the area of the accident, witnesses stated the wx was good with no fog & it was a dark night. When the acft did not arrive, a search was initiated. The wreckage was found the next day at 1106 EST where the acft crashed about 3 mi south of Horseshoe Beach. No preimpact part failure or malfunction was found. Radar data showed that the acft had entered a spiral before contact was lost in the vicinity of the crash site. A check of the plt's blood showed a slight amount of alcohol; however, some or all of this could have been attributed to putrefaction.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9228L
- Reported as
- Grumman American AA-5
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- AA5-0228
- Airframe hours
- 1,150
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2G, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Ted N. Denny
- Registered owner
- Tom C. Haynie
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- MOB · Mobile, AL
- Destination
- TPA · Tampa, FL
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 36
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 644 total · 22 in this make and model · 604 as pilot in command · 11 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 310° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GNV, 55 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.