N45175

On November 17, 2000, about 1500 Eastern Standard Time, a Grumman American AA-5B, N45175, was substantially damaged during an aborted landing at the Montauk Airport (MTP), Montauk, New York. The certificate private pilot and passenger were not injured. Visual Meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight that departed Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Airport (BDR), Bridgeport, Connecticut, destined for Montauk. No flight plan was filed for the flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

According to the pilot, after arriving in the airport area, he maneuvered the airplane onto final for a full stop landing to Runway 24. Configured with full flaps, the pilot maintained 75 knots of indicated airspeed, "slightly" higher than normal because of the reported winds at the airport. He also had to maintain a wind drift correction of 20 degrees, but experienced no turbulence while on final.

When the pilot began to align the airplane with the runway for landing, it touched-down unexpectedly, and veered off to the right. The pilot applied left rudder and left brake, but was unable to get the airplane back onto the runway. The pilot decided to execute a go-around. He advanced the throttle, but quickly realized the airplane would not clear some trees to the front. He aborted his go-around by closing the throttle and mixture. The airplane impacted the trees, came to a stop, and both occupants exited under their own power.

Weather recorded at the airport approximately 6 minutes before the accident included winds from 280 degrees at 12 knots gusting to 21 knots.