Grumman AA-5 N7196L

Summary

On 16 September 2000 at about 14:00 local time, a Grumman AA-5 registered N7196L, operated by Arthur L. Schaer, was involved in an accident near Zephyrhills, Florida, United States. 3 people were on board and 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

16 September 2000 at 14:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Zephyrhills, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Zephyrhills Municipal (ZPH)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Grumman AA-5

Registration

N7196L

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Arthur L. Schaer

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Leesburg

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA00LA263

1 person had minor injuries.

the intentional stall/mush by the pilot-in-command due to obstructions ahead resulting in a hard landing. Contributing to the accident was the partial loss of engine power due to fuel starvation caused by wear, fatigue, then overstress separation of the mixture control cable resulting in the mixture control arm moving to the idle cutoff position.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot noted the airplane was not climbing as expected and a decreased engine rpm. He checked the throttle and mixture controls then with obstructions ahead, intentionally stalled the airplane; a hard landing resulted. The mixture control arm was in the idle cutoff position and the mixture control cable was fractured aft of the mixture control arm. A bracket near the carburetor securing the mixture cable was displaced to the left 1.5 inches. The swivel assembly in the mixture control arm was installed upside down. Post accident, the engine was operated to 2,300 rpm. Both ends of the flame tube of the muffler were found separated following the engine run. One of the flame tube ends was impact damaged; portions of the fracture surfaces on both flame tube ends had a relatively shiny appearance. Wear and fatigue noted on the mixture control cable adjacent to the fracture area; bending overstress to the right on the remaining fracture surface. The mixture control cable had not been replaced since airplane manufacture in 1974. The airplane had accumulated 2,246 hours since then, 44 hours since the last annual inspection 11 months earlier, and 408 hours since an overhauled muffler was installed.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.