Greeley-Weld County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Greeley, Colorado 80631
Sunday, October 29, 2000 15:00 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot made a touch and go landing. During climbout, the engine lost power. During the forced landing approach to an airport access road, the airplane struck a fence post and barbed wire. The engine then regained power, and the pilot taxied back to the ramp. A mechanic said he suspected carburetor ice as the cause of the power loss. The pilot said he applied carburetor heat towards the end of the approach for the touch and go landing, and closed it prior to lifting off. The temperature and dew point were 19 degrees C. and -4 degrees C., respectively. According to the Carburetor Icing Graph, this temperature/dew point combination is on the outer fringes of SERIOUS ICING AFFECTS GLIDE OR CRUISE POWER arc.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Carburetor ice formation due to the pilot's improper use of the carburetor heat control. Factors were the fence and fence post.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/29/2000
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1500
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City GREELEY
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80631
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport GREELEY-WELD COUNTY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID GXY
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 4658
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1455 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID GXY
Elevation of weather observation facility 4658
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 19
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 20
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 6256
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 311
NTSB Notification Source FAA NW OPERATIONS CENTER
NTSB Notification Date Oct 29 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1500
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Mar 4 2001 7:07AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N41RC
NTSB Number DEN01LA009
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Grumman American
Aircraft Model AA-1A
Aircraft Series Identifier AA-1A
Aircraft Serial Number AA1A-0143
Certified Max Gross Weight 1500
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 4 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 19
Airframe Hours 1753
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DANIEL L. BLACK
Aircraft Owner Street Address 816 GREENWOOD DRIVE
Aircraft Owner City BERTHOUD
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80513
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code FNL
Departure City FORT COLLINS
Departure State CO
Departure Country
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code GXY
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 4 2001 7:07AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 34
Runway Length 10000
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --