Gulfstream American AA-5A N26801

Summary

On 11 September 1999 at about 21:22 local time, a Gulfstream American AA-5A registered N26801 was involved in an accident near Carthage, Mississippi, United States. 3 people were on board and one died, one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

11 September 1999 at 21:22

Classification

Accident

Location

Carthage, Mississippi, United States

Coordinates

32.7401, -89.5304

Aircraft

Gulfstream American AA-5A

Registration

N26801

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hawkins → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL99FA127

1 person died.

The pilot-in-command's failure to maintain altitude clearance while maneuvering. A factor was the pine trees.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The owner of the airplane, a pilot-rated passenger, and a second passenger flew up to the owner's farm to photograph timberland that had recently burned in a fire. Throughout most of the flight, the owner was the pilot and temporarily gave the flight controls to the right seat passenger. After taking several pictures with the pilot-rated passenger at the flight controls, he looked up and noticed that several trees were directly in front of the airplane's flight path. He resumed full control of the airplane, applied full power, and pulled back on the control yoke in an attempt to gain altitude. Unable to clear the tops of the trees, the airplane impacted several pine trees and came to rest along the base of the pine trees in an inverted position.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.