History of Flight
On April 7, 2009, at 1158 eastern daylight time, a Grumman American AA-1B, registration N8998L, crashed into a field in Chesnee, South Carolina. The airplane was registered to Good Shepherd Community Services and operated by the certificated airline transport pilot (ATP). The flight was a personal local flight under 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The ATP pilot was killed and the airplane was substantially damaged. The flight departed Fairview Airport (33A) in Landrum, South Carolina, about 1130. A witness reported hearing a small airplane flying low with the engine running slowly; the airplane's wings were rocking, and the engine then went silent before the airplane descended out of sight, followed by a crash sound.
Personnel Information
The pilot, age 64, held an FAA Airline Transport Pilot certificate for airplane single- and multi-engine land, last updated January 26, 1995, and a third-class airman medical certificate issued May 8, 2008, with no limitations. His logbook was not recovered; on his most recent medical certificate he reported 11,420 total civilian flight hours.
Aircraft Information
The two-seat, low-wing, fixed-gear airplane, serial number AA1B-0448, was manufactured in 1974. It was powered by a Lycoming O-235-C2C, 108-hp engine and equipped with a McCauley fixed-pitch propeller. The most recent annual inspection was completed August 1, 2008, at a tachometer time of 2,274.0 hours; the tachometer at the accident site displayed 2,294.6 hours.
Meteorological Information
Conditions at Greenville Downtown Airport (GMU) at 1153 were: wind from 320 degrees at 11 knots gusting to 15 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, broken clouds at 6,500 feet, altimeter 29.82 inches of mercury.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The airplane impacted the ground in a nose-down attitude of about 35 degrees on a heading of 270 degrees magnetic. One propeller blade and the lower third of the engine were embedded about 1 foot into the ground. The engine firewall was displaced aft into the cockpit; rudder pedals were displaced aft and embedded into the cabin floor; the pilot's yoke was separated from the control column, which was jammed full aft. Cockpit instruments were dislodged. Both wings remained attached with accordion-style leading-edge damage. The carry-through tubular wing spar had rotated; the empennage folded forward, crushing and separating the cockpit ceiling. The pilot's right side seat belt attachment D-ring failed. All flight controls remained attached and continuous. Flaps were retracted. Both wing fuel tanks were not breached; the right tank yielded about 3 gallons (2 usable), the left tank about 1.5 gallons (0.5 usable). The fuel selector was observed in the off position. The rudder counterweight was missing, having not been reinstalled after painting. The engine showed no indications of pre-impact malfunction; compression and continuity were confirmed, and carburetor, magnetos, and fuel pumps operated normally on examination.
Medical and Pathological Information
An autopsy performed on April 8, 2009, listed the cause of death as "Closed head and multiple body trauma secondary to an airplane crash." Forensic toxicology detected cetirizine in liver and blood; diphenhydramine in liver (0.015 µg/ml in blood); phenobarbital in blood (0.523 µg/ml) and liver (0.477 µg/ml); and zolpidem in liver and blood (0.028 µg/ml). The pilot's wife reported prescriptions for Ciprofloxacin, Ambien (zolpidem), Levaquin, and over-the-counter Zyrtec (cetirizine). Medical records noted urinary symptoms and prescriptions for ciprofloxacin, tamsulosin, levofloxacin, zolpidem, and a combination medication containing phenazopyridine, butabarbital, and hyoscyamine. There was no indication of prescriptions for phenobarbital.