Grumman American AA-5A N9917U

Summary

On 6 March 1987 at about 00:40 local time, a Grumman American AA-5A registered N9917U was involved in an accident near Tucson, Arizona, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

6 March 1987 at 00:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Tucson, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Ryan Field (RYN)

Coordinates

32.1501, -110.9309

Aircraft

Grumman American AA-5A

Registration

N9917U

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tucson → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX87FA135

3 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

A WITNESS OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE ENTERING DOWNWIND WITH SMOKE TRAILING BEHIND IT. THE PILOT COMMUNICATED TO UNICOM THAT: 'THE ENGINE HAS QUIT; I HAVE TO GET DOWN'. THE WITNESS THEN OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE MAKING A TIGHTER-THAN- NORMAL 'BASE TO FINAL' TURN. THE AIRPLANE NOSED DOWN AND SPUN TO THE GROUND. AN EXAMINATION OF THE AIRFRAME REVEALED NO MECHANICAL PROBLEMS. THE POWERPLANT WAS REMOVED TO A TESTING FACILITY. TEARDOWN OF THE ENGINE, ACCESSORIES, AND CARBURETOR REVEALED NO MALFUNCTIONS. THE CARBURETOR, PRIOR TO TEARDOWN, WAS INSTALLED ON A SIMILAR ENGINE AND WAS SATISFACTORILY RUN IN A TEST CELL. THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED IN FLAT TERRAIN.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.