Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Truckee-Tahoe Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Truckee, California 96161
Thursday, May 23, 2013 12:10 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On May 23, 2013, about 1210 Pacific daylight time, a Grumman AA-1, N5909L, lost engine power during the takeoff initial climb out from the Truckee-Tahoe Airport (TRK), Truckee, California, and impacted trees near the Glenshire subdivision in Truckee. The airplane was owned by a private individual, and piloted by the commercial pilot who was ferrying the airplane to New York for the new owner. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The pilot, the sole occupant, was ejected from the airplane and sustained serious injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, and no flight plan had been filed.
The pilot was interviewed by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector. The pilot stated that he leaned the airplane engine on the ground utilizing the cylinder head temperature (CHT) gauge. After leaning the airplane with the fuel pump on, he commenced with the takeoff. The pilot stated that during the climb, the engine quit and he thought the airplane was going to stall. The pilot stated that he does not remember anything after the loss of engine power, until he woke up and crawled to the cockpit to look for his cellphone to alert the authorities of the accident.
The pilot called 911 about 1500, requesting assistance. A responding deputy from the Nevada County Sheriff’s department stated that the debris field was about 100 yards in length with the tops of several small trees showing visible signs of impact damage. Both wings separated from the airplane and were found about 30 feet from the main wreckage. The smell of fuel was present. The deputy reported that the canopy had shattered leaving the cockpit open.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/23/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1210 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Truckee |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96161 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 361928N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1200053W |
| Event Location Airport | Truckee-Tahoe Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TRK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 7 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 5901 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1150 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 130 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TRK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5901 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2013 7:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5909L |
| NTSB Number | WPR13LA251 |
| 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 | AMERICAN |
| Aircraft Model | AA-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AA1-0209 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SILVA LAWRENCE JR |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | TOLEDO |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97391-0356 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | SILVA LAWRENCE JR |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | TOLEDO |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 97391-0356 |
| 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) | Ferry |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | TRK |
| Departure City | Truckee |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2013 7:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |