Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Homosassa, Florida 34446
Sunday, September 21, 2014 12:05 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On September 21, 2014, about 1205 eastern daylight time, a Grumman American AA-5A, N26676, operated by a private individual, was substantially damaged during a forced landing, following a partial loss of engine power during cruise flight near Homosassa, Florida. The private pilot was not injured and a pilot-rated-passenger incurred minor injuries. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that departed South Lakeland Airport (X49), Lakeland, Florida, about 1130. No flight plan was filed for the planned flight to Harris County Airport (PIM), Pine Mountain, Georgia.
The pilot reported that during cruise flight, about 1,500 feet above ground level, the engine began to intermittently run rough. The engine power loss became more consistent and the pilot was unable to maintain altitude. He attempted to divert to a nearby airport while the pilot-rated-passenger tried to restore engine power; however, the airport was 5 miles away and the airplane would not glide that far at its altitude. The pilot then attempted to perform a forced landing into a field. During the approach, the pilot-rated-passenger took control of the airplane. The airplane collided with powerlines and impacted the field, before coming to rest upright.
The airplane was equipped with a Lycoming O-320, 160-horsepower engine. The airplane's most recent annual inspection was completed on January 1, 2014. At that time, the airplane had accrued about 1,580 total hours and the engine 29 hours since major overhaul. The airplane had flown about 2 additional hours from the time of the inspection, until the accident flight.
Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed damage to the wing spars. The inspector was able to rotate the propeller and verify camshaft, crankshaft and valve train continuity. He also attained thumb compression on all cylinders and the magnetos produced spark at all leads. He observed fuel in both fuel pumps and the carburetor. He did not observe any blockages in the carburetor venturi and noted that the airplane had about 25 gallons of fuel remaining at the accident site. When the inspector interviewed the pilot, the pilot reported that he momentarily applied carburetor heat when the engine began to run rough, but then turned it off after a few seconds because he did not observe any improvement in engine power.
Review of an FAA Carburetor Icing chart for the temperature (70 degrees F) and dew point (68 degrees F) at the time of the accident revealed "Serious Icing (glide power);" however, the engine was at cruise power when the power loss occurred.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/21/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1205 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Homosassa |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34446 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 284660N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0823700W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BKV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 76 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| 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) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 14 2014 10:49AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N26676 |
| NTSB Number | ERA14LA451 |
| 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-5A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AA5A0640 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2200 |
| 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 | Jan 1 2014 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 1580 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DEFORD MARY R |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | DELPHI |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 469239263 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | DEFORD FRANCIS D |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | DELPHI |
| Operator State | IN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 469239263 |
| 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 | X49 |
| Departure City | Lakeland |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PIM |
| Destination City | Pine Mounain |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 14 2014 10:49AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |