Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Bridgeport/Sikorsky Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bridgeport, Connecticut 06615
Saturday, November 1, 2008 17:04 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The solo student pilot of the Grumman AA5B stated he was maneuvering in his local training area when he experienced symptoms of "vertigo." The pilot was on a westerly heading in the late afternoon, looking through the propeller, at the onset of the symptoms. He managed to navigate back to his home airport, but during the landing, lost directional control, departed the runway, and collided with an airport sign. The pilot was not injured, but examination of his medical records revealed he was treated by a physician for symptoms of vertigo in the days following the accident. According to the Federal Aviation Administration Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3A), flicker vertigo is defined as: "A disorienting condition caused from flickering light off the blades of the propeller."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's loss of directional control during landing and while suffering symptoms of vertigo.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/1/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1704 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Bridgeport |
| Event State | CONNECTICUT |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 06615 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 410949N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0730734W |
| Event Location Airport | Bridgeport/Sikorsky |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BDR |
| 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 | 10 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1652 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BDR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 10 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 20 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.2 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24795 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England Region ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 22 2009 9:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | grol |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4540L |
| NTSB Number | ERA09CA034 |
| 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 AVN. CORP. |
| Aircraft Model | AA-5B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AA5B1307 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 2 |
| 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 30 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 7627 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Calvin Munson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fairfield |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06824 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Blue Sky Flight |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Stratford |
| Operator State | CT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 06615 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | BDR |
| Departure City | Bridgeport |
| Departure State | CT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1600 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | BDR |
| Destination City | Bridgeport |
| Destination State | CT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 14 2008 1:09PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 06 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |