- Date
- September 12, 2004, 14:45 local (21:45 UTC)
- Place
- Brooks, OR
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N26327Grumman American AA-5A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 3, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Portland, OR
- FAA report
- 20040912022979A
- Case key
- 60112
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 flight instructor's failure to maintain altitude/clearance on final approach to land resulting in an in-flight collision with terrain. Contributing factors were the student pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed during the approach and the flight instructor's delay in taking remedial action.
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
According to the flight instructor, the instructional flight was a check-ride preparation flight for the student. The flight instructor said that he was having the student perform a simulated engine out approach and landing. He stated that "on short final, the air speed diminished and [he] added full power in an attempt to prevent a stall." The airplane's nose wheel contacted some berry bushes growing on a berm at the end of the runway. Subsequently, the airplane's nose pitched down and the left wing impacted the ground, resulting in the separation of the outboard 4 feet of the wing. Additionally, the engine, nose landing gear, and right main landing gear separated from the fuselage, and the empennage was bent 90 degrees to the left.
Factual narrative
On September 12, 2004, at approximately 1445 Pacific daylight time, a Grumman American AA-5A, N26327, was destroyed when it impacted terrain during the final approach phase of a simulated forced landing at Smith Private Airport, Brooks, Oregon. The flight instructor and student pilot were not injured. Pacific Flyers Inc. of Salem, Oregon was operating the airplane under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the cross-country instructional flight that departed from McMinnville, Oregon, approximately 15 minutes before the accident. A VFR flight plan had not been filed.
According to the flight instructor, the flight was a check-ride preparation flight for the student. The flight instructor said that he was having the student perform a simulated engine out approach and landing. He stated that "on short final, the air speed diminished and [he] added full power in an attempt to prevent a stall." The airplane's nose wheel contacted some berry bushes growing on a berm at the end of the runway. Subsequently, the airplane's nose pitched down and the left wing impacted the ground, resulting in the separation of the outboard 4 feet of the wing. Additionally, the engine, nose landing gear, and right main landing gear separated from the fuselage, and the empennage was bent 90 degrees to the left.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N26327
- Reported as
- Grumman American AA-5A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- AA5A0535
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2G, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Pacific Flyers Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Departed
- MMV · McMinnville, OR
- Destination
- 29OR · Brooks, OR
- Airport
- 29OR · Smith Private Airport, runway 34
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 66
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 1,700 total · 400 in this make and model · 60 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 26
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 39 total · 28 in this make and model · 9 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,600 ft broken
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- SLE
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 30, 2004, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 309 KB 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.