Grumman American Avn AA-5B N28311

Summary

On 23 April 2025 at about 14:00 local time, a Grumman American Avn AA-5B registered N28311 was involved in an accident near Zolfo Springs, Florida, United States. 3 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 April 2025 at 14:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Zolfo Springs, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Bald Eagle Airfield- Myakka He (67FL)

Coordinates

27.4556, -82.1050

Aircraft

Grumman American Avn AA-5B

Registration

N28311

Category

Airplane

Year built

1977

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → St. Augustine

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA25LA184

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane during the takeoff. Contributing was the flight instructor’s lack of remedial action.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot, flight instructor, and the passenger onboard the airplane were attempting to depart from a 3,400-ft-long turf runway. The pilot reported that as the airplane began to lift off from the runway, and he attempted to “ease the nose down” to stay in ground effect and gain airspeed. He attempted to correct a left yaw by applying right rudder and lowering the nose, but the airplane became uncontrollable. The airplane departed the runway, impacted trees, and a post-crash fire ensued that destroyed the airplane. A witness also observed the takeoff and described that as the airplane was taking off, the engine was at full power but it lifted off the runway too soon. Due to the airplane’s low speed, it descended and bounced. When the airplane contacted the ground again, the left with struck the ground and the airplane pivoted to the left, departed the runway, and went into a ditch where it came to rest.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.