SEA96LA184

The pilot said that he initiated a go-around after the airplane touched down with full flaps. However, he stated that the flaps did not come up when he placed the three-position (down, neutral, and up) flap switch to up, and that he did not realize this. The airplane lifted off prematurely, and it drifted left of the runway, over an adjacent golf course. The pilot maneuvered to miss vehicles and personnel on the golf course, but encountered a stall/mush in doing so. The airplane then impacted a tree and crashed. A mechanic for the aircraft operator reported to the FAA that the airplane's surviving flap system components operated normally in a postaccident functional test.

On August 7, 1996, approximately 1800 mountain daylight time, a Grumman American AA-5B, N28765, registered to Aero Technicians, Inc. (d/b/a Hart Enterprises) of Rexburg, Idaho, collided with trees during a go-around at Rexburg/Madison County Airport near Rexburg. The aircraft subsequently crashed onto a golf course fairway adjacent to the runway. The airplane was substantially damaged and the private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the local 14 CFR 91 flight out of Rexburg.

The pilot reported that he was attempting a touch-and-go landing on runway 17 using full flaps. He stated:

Everything was good, airspeed correct [and] I was using full flaps.... I touched down, started to do a go-around[,] I pushed switch to retract flaps, [and] added power. (I didn't realize that the flaps didn't come up.) The plane started to lift off the runway early, [and] I drifted to the left of the runway over the golf course. At that instant...a large tractor mower was moving right in my line of flight....I pulled back to go over [the tractor].... In [a] nose high attitude, the plane stall warning went on. I lowered the nose [and] was going to land on golf course fairway. Two golfers were right in front of me. I had to bank to the left, to miss them. I [tried] to fly between two trees [and] set down when my left wing hit the tree, ripping the wing from the aircraft....

The pilot stated that there was a "light crosswind from the right" in his narrative account of the accident. The notes of the FAA inspector assigned to the accident indicated that the weather at the time was calm and clear.

The aircraft has an electrical flap system incorporating a three-position (down, neutral, and up) electrical flap control switch. The aircraft flight manual states that the flap switch is spring-loaded from "down" to "neutral," but the FAA inspector assigned to the accident stated that the flap switch on the accident aircraft was in the "down" position when he entered the aircraft to inspect it after the accident. A mechanic for Aero Technicians, the aircraft operator, examined the accident aircraft's flap system on August 13, 1996. His report to the FAA inspector assigned to the accident stated the following:

...I examined the subject aircraft and found the following conditions:

1. The right flap was fully extended (the left wing, flap, and aileron were separated from the aircraft). 2. The battery negative terminal was disconnected (after the incident). 3. The master switch was "OFF." 4. The flap control switch was in "UP."

After verifying no interference to flap movement, I placed the flap control switch in neutral, then reconnected the battery. I then turned on the master switch and placed the flap switch in "UP." The right flap retracted normally and the left flap actuating shaft/bracket rotated normally[.]