Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Cottage Grove State Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cottage Grove, Oregon 97424
Wednesday, January 10, 2001 14:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The instructor (pilot-in-command) and student (aircraft owner) checked the Grumman AA-1B's fuel supply believing they had about 1/4 tank (left) and 3/4 tank (right) prior to departing on the instructional flight. Airwork at high altitude was completed, and then the aircraft was taken into the pattern for practice touch and go landings. During the initial climb following the first touch and go, and not more than 200 feet above ground, the engine abruptly stopped and the propeller was reported to stop rotating. The instructor took control of the aircraft, maneuvering away from trees and towards a landing site, while the student selected the right fuel tank and turned on the fuel boost pump, but did not engage the starter. The aircraft impacted trees during the forced landing. Fuel and aircraft log records indicated that under the best conditions (assumption of full tanks, i.e. 22 gallons useable fuel total on 09/29/00) the aircraft had a total 35.6 gallons of usable fuel expended over a duration of 7.4 Hobbs hours from 09/29/00, to the time of the accident (approximately 4.81gallons/hour average burn). The fuel selector was reported on the left fuel tank at the time of the power loss and found on the right fuel tank at the accident site. The fuel system was checked following the accident and was found to be capable of delivering fuel to the carburetor. The engine was examined and no anomalies were found. The carburetor was flow checked and disassembled and no discrepancies were found. Serious carburetor icing conditions were found to exist at the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight instructor's failure to ensure (supervision) the student had an adequate supply of fuel available, and the student's failure to refuel the aircraft sufficently resulting in a fuel starvation/exhaustion condition and total power loss. Contributing factors were the trees and unsuitable terrain at the forced landing site.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/10/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Cottage Grove |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97424 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 434648N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1230210W |
| Event Location Airport | Cottage Grove State |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 61S |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 330 |
| Airport Elevation | 640 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1356 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 315 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EUG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 365 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 23 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.53 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11285 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SEA FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 10 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1450 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2002 7:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Hillsboro FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9988L |
| NTSB Number | SEA01LA037 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Grumman American |
| Aircraft Model | AA-1B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AA1B0288 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1560 |
| 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 | Nov 17 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 4190 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Little Green house Antiques and Collectibles, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 78869 Thornton Lane |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cottage Grove |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97424 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Smith, Douglas A. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 61S |
| Departure City | Cottage Grove |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2001 4:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 33 |
| Runway Length | 3200 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |