Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mountain Meadow Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Harwinton, Connecticut 06791
Saturday, February 16, 2002 17:10 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to take-off, the pilot performed an engine run-up, and used a checklist to prepare the airplane for a normal take-off. The pilot said that the elevator trim was set to the take-off position, flight control continuity was performed, the flaps were retracted, and the engine run-up was normal. He then lined the airplane up on the runway, applied full power, and rotated at 65 knots. As the airplane began to climb, the pilot said that he tried to maintain 65 knots. When the airplane reached an altitude of approximately 40-50 feet above the ground, the left wing dropped and the stall horn came on. The stall horn remained on as the airplane turned to the left and collided with trees. Examination of the Gulfstream American AA-5B Tiger Pilot Operating Handbook (POH) revealed that for a normal take-off a pilot should, "accelerate to 50 KIAS before applying a light back pressure on the control wheel to lift off the nose wheel...When airborne, accelerate to the desired climb speed." According to the POH, the best angle of climb speed was 70 knots and normal climb out speed was 90 knots. Examination of the airplane revealed that there were no mechanical deficiencies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
pilot's failure to obtain adequate airspeed during take-off, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/16/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1710 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | HARWINTON |
| Event State | CONNECTICUT |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 06791 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | MOUNTAIN MEADOW |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 22B |
| 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 | 1000 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Abbreviated |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 93 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HFD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 19 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.69 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1277 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12418 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NEROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 16 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1854 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 23 2002 10:24AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WINDSOR LOCKS FAA/FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N81072 |
| NTSB Number | IAD02LA032 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Grumman American |
| Aircraft Model | AA-5B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0421 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 202 |
| Airframe Hours | 4585 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CARNEY AVIATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | SIKORSKY MEMORIAL AIRPORT |
| Aircraft Owner City | STRATFORD |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06615 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 22B |
| Departure City | HARWINTON |
| Departure State | CT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1710 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BDR |
| Destination City | BRIDGEPORT |
| Destination State | CT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 9 2002 12:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 19 |
| Runway Length | 3400 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |