Amateur-built AA-5A accident near North Bend, Oregon, March 12, 1997
On March 12, 1997 at about 2:30 am local time, a amateur-built AA-5A, registered N26848, was substantially damaged in an accident near North Bend, Oregon. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's failure to perform the proper remedial action of applying carburetor heat/alternate induction air after impact ice accumulated on his aircraft's induction air filter. Factors include intentional flight into known adverse weather (icing conditions), ice formation on the induction air filter and the resultant restriction of the induction air flow, and a body of water at the location where the pilot had to attempt an emergency landing.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- March 12, 1997 · about 2:30 am local time
- Place
- North Bend, Oregon · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built AA-5A
- Registration
- N26848 · no longer on the register · serial 0763
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot flew into forecast icing conditions, where structural ice accumulated on the induction air filter and partially blocked the flow of induction air. He failed to apply carburetor heat, which would have bypassed the obstructed filter, and therefore the aircraft lost power and the pilot had to ditch the aircraft in the waters of Coos Bay.
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
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 654 hours in all; 81 in this make and model; 537 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 2,348 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, October 31, 1996; 40 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,200 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-320-E2G (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: OTH OR at 2:20 pm
- Destination: 2Q3 Yolo County CA
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: dusk
- Wind: from 190° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 15 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 3,000 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.