American Aviation AA-1A accident near Sparta, Tennessee, November 4, 2022
On November 4, 2022 at about 10:15 pm local time, a 1972 American Aviation AA-1A, registered N7254L, was substantially damaged in an accident during enroute (descent) near Sparta, Tennessee (Upper Cumberland Rgnl airport). It was a flight test under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
A total loss of engine power due to an accumulation of carburetor ice, resulting in an off-airport landing and substantial damage to the airplane.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- November 4, 2022 · about 10:15 pm local time
- Place
- Sparta, Tennessee · Upper Cumberland Rgnl · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- American Aviation AA-1A, built 1972 · all AA-1As on the register
- Registration
- N7254L · no longer on the register · serial AA1A-0454
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight test · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
An annual inspection had just been completed on the airplane, and the following day the pilot conducted a test flight directly over the airport. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot climbed to 6,500 ft mean sea level (msl) while conducting rectangular patterns directly over the airport for several minutes and then initiated a descent to 4,500 ft msl. During the descent, without any warning, the airplane sustained a loss of engine power. The pilot was unsuccessful in his attempts to restart the engine, resulting in the need to conduct a forced landing. As he entered the airport traffic pattern, the airplane was too high to land on the runway, so he conducted a side slip to lose altitude, but over-corrected and was too low to reach the desired runway. Unable to glide to the runway, the pilot landed short of the runway on rough, hilly terrain, which resulted in substantial damage to the airframe. Postaccident examination of the engine, fuel system, and induction system revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The weather conditions reported at the time of the accident were conducive to serious carburetor icing. Examination revealed that the carburetor heat was not in use when the airplane impacted the ground based on damage signatures to the bottom side of the heat box; the carb heat butterfly valve was in the “cold air” position and could not be activated due to the deformation of the box. The pilot also did not report that he used the carburetor heat. Based on the temperature and dew point at the altitude about where the loss of engine power occurred, the conditions were favorable for serious carburetor icing at the glide power setting and very close to the cruise power setting; therefore, it is likely that carburetor ice accumulated while descending and resulted in a loss of engine power.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
What happened, in order
- Fuel related during enroute (descent) defining event
- Off-field or emergency landing during emergency descent
The NTSB's findings
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Temp/humidity/pressure › Conducive to carburetor icing › Effect on equipment
- Personnel issues › Task performance › Use of equip/info › Use of equip/system › Pilot
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems › Ice/rain protection system › Intake anti › ice, deice › Not used/operated
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: single-engine land
- Flight time: 243 hours in all; 215 in this make and model; 23.1 in the last 90 days; 4.3 in the last 30 days; 168.3 as pilot in command; 0 on instruments
- Last flight review: March 21, 2021
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: minor injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 5,120 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, November 2, 2022; 1 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 1,490 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-320-B2C (piston); 2,488 hours total
The flight
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 22, 6,704 ft by 100 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: dusk
- Wind: from 160° at 8 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 72°F (22°C), dew point 50°F (10°C)
- Altimeter: 30.08 inHg
- Observation at 5:35 pm from SRB
Weather report (METAR): METAR KSRB 042235Z AUTO 16008KT 10SM CLR 22/10 A3008 RMK A01=
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N7254L the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number ERA23LA059.