- Date
- August 10, 1994, 17:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Ormond Beach, FL
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N1392RGrumman AA-5
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 5, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940810021039A
- Case key
- 37585
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 improper maintenance work done on the carburetor by a local mechanic that resulted in loss of engine power over unsuitable terrain. A contributing factor was the dirt and moisture that contaminated the carburetor.
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 instructor and student experienced a loss of engine power on takeoff. The airplane collided with trees and fell to the ground. Examination of the engine air induction system revealed a distorted seal at the carburetor flange that allowed dirt and moisture to enter the carburetor. The carburetor had been removed and worked on by a local mechanic 2 days before the accident.
Factual narrative
On August 10, 1994, about 1730 easter daylight time, N1392R, a Grumman AA-5, registered to the student pilot Leonard Ross, crashed after takeoff at Ormond Beach, Florida while on a 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The airplane was substantially damaged and the instructor and student received serious injuries. The flight originated about 30 minutes earlier.
Witnesses observed the airplane take off from runway 08, heard the engine fail and observed the airplane stall into trees. The airplane then fell vertically to the ground, ripping the roof off of the cockpit.
Postcrash examination of the airplane by FAA personnel revealed water and dirt inside the carburetor and rust deposits in the carburetor bowl. The rubber seal around the carburetor air induction flange was found deformed, pinched and not fully sealing the flange. The flight instructor stated the engine had failed to develop full power and 2 days before the accident and the engine had been worked on by local maintenance personnel. The local maintenance shop work order stated that both the carburetor and carburetor float had been removed and reinstalled.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1392R
- Reported as
- Grumman AA-5
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 0792
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2G, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Ross,Leonard
- Registered owner
- Inherit The Wind Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- ORM
- Destination
- ORM · FL
- Airport
- ORM · Ormond Beach, runway 8, 4,004 × 100 ft, asphalt
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
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor, Commercial, Flight engineer
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 2,759 total · 159 in this make and model · 2,373 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 38 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,200 ft broken
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DAB, 16 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.