Grumman American AA-5A N6035L

Summary

On 16 September 1987 at about 00:40 local time, a Grumman American AA-5A registered N6035L, operated by Robert Whitlock, was involved in an accident near Corpus Christi, Texas, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 died. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

16 September 1987 at 00:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Corpus Christi, Texas, United States

Coordinates

27.7303, -97.3898

Aircraft

Grumman American AA-5A

Registration

N6035L

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Robert Whitlock

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Corpus Christi → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW87FA219

4 people died.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE AIRCRAFT EXCEEDED MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE TAKEOFF WEIGHT AND AFT CENTER OF GRAVITY LIMITS. THE AIRCRAFT HAD TWO PASSENGERS IN THE REAR SEATS. THE OPERATOR'S MANUAL STATES THAT NO PASSENGERS ARE PERMITTED IN THE REAR SEATS DURING AEROBATIC MANEUVERS. THE PILOT WAS OBSERVED PERFORMING A SERIES OF STEEP CLIMBS, TURNS, AND DIVES, JUST PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT. ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, THE AIRCRAFT WAS PERFORMING 'HAMMER HEAD STALLS' AND 'RETURN-TO-TARGET' MANEUVERS. ONE WITNESS STATED THAT HE OBSERVED THE AIRCRAFT IN A SPIRALING DESCENT JUST PRIOR TO IMPACT. THE AIRCRAFT IMPACTED THE TERRAIN IN A NEAR FLAT ATTITUDE. ALL FOUR OCCUPANTS OF THE AIRCRAFT HAD RECENTLY COMPLETED NAVY INDOC TRAINING AND WERE TO BEGIN NAVAL FLIGHT TRAINING.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.