American AA 1 N5703L

Summary

On 12 March 2016 at about 21:30 local time, a American AA 1 registered N5703L, operated by Eggett Glade D., was involved in an accident near Brigham City, Utah, 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

12 March 2016 at 21:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Brigham City, Utah, United States

Nearest airport

Brigham City (BMC)

Coordinates

41.5550, -112.0622

Aircraft

American AA 1

Registration

N5703L

Category

Airplane

Year built

1969

Engines

1

Operator

Eggett Glade D.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Brigham City → Brigham City

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA16CA149

1 person had minor injuries.

Loss of directional control during landing, due to nose landing gear damage sustained in the prior takeoff, resulting in a runway excursion and nose over.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that during the takeoff roll about 60 knots with a "slight" crosswind, he "felt an abrupt" turn to the right, heard a "huge steady scrape" sound, and noted a vibration. Airborne at 65 knots, he reported a strong gust of wind from the left which felt like a quartering tail wind. He reported that he did not believe he had touched back down on the runway after becoming airborne. The pilot then flew the airplane over the airport where a local pilot on the ground reported to him that the nose landing gear was bent. During the subsequent landing, he reported that he made a soft field type of landing with the main landing gear touching down first. He held the nose landing gear off the ground as long as possible but when the nose landing gear touched down, he had no directional control and he heard a scraping noise. The airplane departed the runway to the right into a ditch and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, left wing, and vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported that he took off on runway 17 about 1410. The weather observation facility at the accident airport reported that from 1355 to 1415, the wind velocity varied from 13 knots to 15 knots with occasional gusts to 19 knots, and the wind direction varied from 190 to 240 degrees. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Type Certificate Data Sheet, the maximum demonstrated crosswind component for the airplane is 15 miles per hour (13.03 knots). The FAA has published the Airplane Flying Handbook FAA-H-8083-3A (2004). This handbook discusses operations in crosswind conditions and states in part: Takeoffs and landings in certain crosswind conditions are inadvisable or even dangerous. If the crosswind is great enough to warrant an extreme drift correction, a hazardous landing condition may result. Therefore, the takeoff and landing capabilities with respect to the reported surface wind conditions and the available landing directions must be considered. It is imperative that pilots determine the maximum crosswind component of each airplane they fly, and avoid operations in wind conditions that exceed the capability of the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.