Grumman AA-5 N5435L

Summary

On 30 December 2005 at about 21:00 local time, a Grumman AA-5 registered N5435L was involved in an accident near Boulder City, Nevada, United States. One person was 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

30 December 2005 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Boulder City, Nevada, United States

Nearest airport

Boulder City Municipal (61B)

Coordinates

35.9475, -114.8611

Aircraft

Grumman AA-5

Registration

N5435L

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Boulder City → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX06LA073

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection and failure to follow the airplane's checklist, which resulted in his failure to remove the gust lock prior to flight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane veered off the runway into terrain as it was lifting off. The pilot completed a preflight through the "ready to taxi" checklist. As he taxied out, he watched a large sea plane take off, and then a Cessna departed ahead of him. He attempted to rotate at 60 mph during the ground roll, but was unable to raise the nose. He then discovered that he had forgotten to remove the flight control's gust lock prior to takeoff. He noted that he had a portable GPS mounted to the yoke, which obstructed his view of the gust lock and access to it. The airplane veered off the left side of the runway, and sustained damage when it encountered terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.