Grumman American AA-5 N5625L

Summary

On 22 February 1998 at about 04:40 local time, a Grumman American AA-5 registered N5625L was involved in an accident near Brookville, Ohio, United States. 4 people were on board and one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 February 1998 at 04:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Brookville, Ohio, United States

Nearest airport

Brookville Air-Park (I62)

Coordinates

39.8294, -84.4091

Aircraft

Grumman American AA-5

Registration

N5625L

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Sturtevant → New Lebanon

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

NYC98LA067

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's misjudgment of the fuel supply.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

Before takeoff, the pilot determined that the airplane had approximately 30 gallons of fuel, by visually looking into the fuel tanks and using fuel burn calculations from the airplane's last flight. The airplane departed, drawing fuel from the left tank. While en route, the pilot noticed that the left fuel gauge was indicating empty, and switched the fuel selector to the right tank. Concerned about low fuel, the pilot diverted to refuel. Prior to landing, the pilot switched the fuel selector back to the left tank. On final approach, the pilot elected to go-around with full flaps. The airplane climbed to about 30 feet, and continued for about 1/2 mile, then turned back to the airport. Upon completion of the turn, the engine lost total power. The airplane lost altitude, stalled, and impacted trees, rupturing both fuel tanks. There was approximately a 1 gallon fuel spill, on the pavement, under each of the ruptured fuel tanks. There was no evidence of fuel spillage in the area where the fuel tanks had been ruptured, and no fuel was observed in the fuel tanks.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.