Something Happened: Wind Shear Takes Down a Grumman Trainer

Remember that an airplane does not instantly recover airspeed that's lost in a wind shear.

Peter Garrison

Thursday, February 22, 2024 at 12:45 PM ET

Verified

Always favor airspeed over climb rate and, if the nose and airspeed drop at once, push, don’t pull. [Adobe Stock]

Key Takeaways:

A pilot fatally crashed a Grumman Trainer shortly after takeoff amidst severe wind and turbulence, likely due to low-level wind shear causing an abrupt loss of airspeed.
The incident occurred despite the pilot's experience and an upgraded engine, highlighting the critical dangers posed by extreme crosswinds and unforecasted wind shear during initial climb.
Pilots operating in gusty conditions are advised to add extra airspeed, prioritize airspeed over climb rate, avoid instinctively pulling back on the yoke during an airspeed drop, and consider remaining on the ground when conditions are severe.

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On a cloudless April afternoon a Grumman AA-1B Trainer lined up on Runway 16 at Dodge Center, Minnesota (KTOB), for takeoff. The wind, 27 knots gusting to 34, was coming from the right, 50 degrees off the little airplane’s nose. Three people had seen the pilot board the airplane and taxi out. One of them watched as it took off.

When the airplane was, he thought, 500 feet above the ground and three-quarters of the way down the 4,500-foot runway, he returned to his work. A few minutes later, one of the others, who had not watched the takeoff but perhaps heard an impact, alerted him to what turned out to be the wreckage of the Trainer in a farm field not far from the end of the runway.