Lake Wenatchee State Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Leavenworth, Washington 98826
Saturday, July 9, 1994 13:20 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE PILOT INITIATED A TAKEOFF FROM A ROUGH TURF AIRSTRIP THAT WAS 2400' IN LENGTH. THE RUNWAY HAD AREAS OF SOFT DIRT INTERSPERSED WITH AREAS OF GRASS THAT RANGED FROM 1 TO 8 INCHES IN HEIGHT. DURING TAKEOFF, THE AIRCRAFT COLLIDED WITH TREES NEAR THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY. THE TREES WERE ABOUT 75' TALL; IMPACT OCCURRED ABOUT 50' ABOVE THE GROUND. CALCULATIONS SHOWED THAT THE DENSITY ALTITUDE WAS ABOUT 4700', AND THAT WITH THE PREVAILING CONDITIONS, ABOUT 2213' TO 2616' OF RUNWAY WOULD HAVE BEEN NEEDED FOR THE TAKEOFF GROUND RUN.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PLANNING/PREPARATION. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE, THE RUNWAY CONDITION (WITH AREAS OF SOFT OR UNEVEN TERRAIN AND TALL GRASS), AND OBSTRUCTIONS (TREES) NEAR THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/9/1994
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1320
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City LEAVENWORTH
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98826
Event Date Year 1994
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport LAKE WENATCHEE STATE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID WA32
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 1936
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Witness
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 30
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 4701
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 3
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1651
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 9 1994 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1445
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 6 2000 11:46AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3645A
NTSB Number SEA94FA174
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name PIPER
Aircraft Model PA-22-135
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-22-135
Aircraft Serial Number 22-1905
Certified Max Gross Weight 1950
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 10 1993 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 60
Airframe Hours 3700
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name STRAKER, CHRISTINE P.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 15122 232 RD. NE
Aircraft Owner City WOODINVILLE
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98072
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code WA32
Departure City LAKE WENATCHEE
Departure State WA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1320
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code S43
Destination City SNOHOMISH
Destination State WA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27
Runway Length 2400
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --