Boulder City Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Boulder City, Nevada 89005
Friday, December 30, 2005 13:00 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane veered off the runway into terrain as it was lifting off. The pilot completed a preflight through the "ready to taxi" checklist. As he taxied out, he watched a large sea plane take off, and then a Cessna departed ahead of him. He attempted to rotate at 60 mph during the ground roll, but was unable to raise the nose. He then discovered that he had forgotten to remove the flight control's gust lock prior to takeoff. He noted that he had a portable GPS mounted to the yoke, which obstructed his view of the gust lock and access to it. The airplane veered off the left side of the runway, and sustained damage when it encountered terrain.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection and failure to follow the airplane's checklist, which resulted in his failure to remove the gust lock prior to flight.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/30/2005
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1300
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Boulder City
Event State NEVADA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 89005
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 355651N
Event Location Longitude 1145140W
Event Location Airport Boulder City Municipal
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 61B
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 2201
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1256 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 270
Weather Observation Facility ID HND
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 13
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) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.96
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21802
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Dec 30 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 25 2007 12:22PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Federal Aviation Administration Las Vegas FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5435L
NTSB Number LAX06LA073
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
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
Aircraft Model AA-5
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number AA5-0335
Certified Max Gross Weight 1600
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 Jan 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 24
Airframe Hours 4385
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name William E. Huff
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Upland
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91786
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code 61B
Departure City Boulder City
Departure State NV
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
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 18 2007 2:00PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27L
Runway Length 4800
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --