NTSB ATL83FA133 — 1983-03-10 · CHESAPEAKE, Virginia, United States

N6266L has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (ZIPLINE INTERNATIONAL INC P2 ZIP), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

N6266L GRUMMAN AMERICAN AA-1B Minor

Factual narrative

THE PLT TOOK OFF ON RWY 4 & MADE A CLIMBING LEFT TURN FOR A DOWNWIND DEPARTURE. AT APRX 900 FT, THERE WAS A PARTIAL LOSS OF POWER TO ABOUT IDLE RPM. THE PLT STATED THAT HE SWITCHED FUEL TANKS, APPLIED CARBURETOR HEAT & PUMPED THE THROTTLE, ALL TO NO AVAIL. HE TURNED BACK TO THE ARPT, BUT WAS UNABLE TO REACH THE RWY. THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED DURING A LANDING ON SOFT TERRAIN, APRX 150 YARDS SHORT OF RWY 22. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE INSIDE SCREEN & SPONGE ELEMENT OF THE AIR INTAKE FILTER, PN BA-4210, HAD COME LOOSE. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE SCREEN & SPONGE HAD BECOME LODGED IN THE THROAT OF THE CARBURETOR AIR BOX & OBSTRUCTED THE AIRFLOW TO THE CARBURETOR. THE METAL IN THE SCREEN WAS FOUND TO BE NON-MAGNETIC. AD 81-15-03 HAD BEEN ISSUED TO CORRECT THE FILTER PROBLEM BY REPLACING THE ALUMINUM SCREEN WITH A STEEL SCREEN. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1983_ATL83FA133.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.