No fatalities

31 May 2012: GRUMMAN AMERICAN AVN. CORP. AA-1B — Lawrence, MA

Lawrence, MA, United States

On 31 May 2012, a GRUMMAN AMERICAN AVN. CORP. AA-1B was involved in an aviation accident near Lawrence, MA. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's delayed decision to abort the takeoff, which resulted in a runway excursion. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 12 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 1778583330Data APIEditorial standards

After practicing touch-and-go landings, a pilot aborted a takeoff due to concerns about clearing trees beyond the runway end, resulting in a runway excursion and nose-over, with substantial empennage damage.

Flight Details

The pilot had been flying for approximately 40 minutes without incident before returning to the departure airport to practice touch-and-go landings and takeoffs. She executed a full-stop landing on the 3,900-foot-long runway, as was her normal procedure.

Accident Sequence

Following the landing, the pilot retracted the flaps, adjusted the trim, and advanced the throttle. As the airplane lifted off, she became concerned that the aircraft was too far down the runway and too low above the ground to clear trees located beyond the departure end. She elected to abort the takeoff, but was unable to stop the airplane on the remaining runway. The airplane departed the end of the runway, rolled through grass, down an embankment, and nosed over. The accident resulted in substantial damage to the empennage.

Post-Accident Comments

The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures during the flight. In retrospect, she stated that she may have taken too much time to transition the airplane for takeoff after landing. She also expressed the opinion that if she had committed to the takeoff, the airplane would have adequately cleared the trees.

Contributing factors

Causes

Pilot

Other contributing factors

Contributed to outcome