Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
La Grande Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
La Grande, Oregon 97850
Saturday, January 21, 1995 10:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT REPORTED THAT WHILE FLYING THE NDB APPROACH IN IMC, HE NOTED THAT THE IDENTIFYING SIGNAL WAS WEAK AND THE ADF NEEDLE WANDERED. HE CONTINUED THE APPROACH, BUT DID NOT DESCEND BELOW THE MINIMUM DESCENT ALTITUDE OF 4000' MSL. WHEN HE FELT THAT HE WAS OVER THE RUNWAY, HE LOOKED DOWN AND SAW TREES THROUGH THE FOG. IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER, HE FELT THE AIRPLANE HIT SOMETHING. THE PILOT PERFORMED A MISSED APPROACH AND DIVERTED TO ANOTHER AIRPORT, WHERE HE LANDED WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. AN EXAM OF THE AIRPLANE REVEALED EVIDENCE THAT IT HAD COLLIDED WITH A TREE. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE NDB WAS OUT OF SERVICE, AND NO NOTAM HAD BEEN ISSUED. THE PARTY RESPONSIBLE FOR REPORTING THE SERVICEABILITY OF THE NDB REPORTED TO THE FSS THAT THE 'BEACON' WAS OUT OF SERVICE. THE FSS INTERPRETED 'BEACON' AS THE 'ROTATING BEACON' ON THE AIRPORT. THE AIRPORT WAS LOCATED IN A VALLEY AT AN ELEVATION OF 2714'. THE NDB APPROACH TO THE AIRPORT WAS FROM THE NORTH. HIGH TERRAIN TO ABOUT 6000' MSL WAS LOCATED TO THE EAST AND WEST OF THE AIRPORT. THE INVESTIGATION DID NOT REVEAL THE EXACT LOCATION OF IMPACT WITH TREE(S).
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN PROPER ALTITUDE/CLEARANCE FROM HIGHER TERRAIN THAT WAS LOCATED NEAR THE AIRPORT. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: LOW CEILING, FOG, FALSE/INCORRECT INDICATION OF THE NDB, FAILURE OF OTHER PERSONNEL TO PROPERLY ISSUE A NOTAM CONCERNING THE NDB, AND FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO PROPERLY IDENTIFY THE NAVAID SIGNAL.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/21/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | LA GRANDE |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97850 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | LA GRANDE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LGD |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| 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 | 300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 132 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 21 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N36PB |
| NTSB Number | SEA95LA039 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-31-350 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-31-350 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 31-7405128 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7000 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 12 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 37 |
| Airframe Hours | 11922 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AIRPAC AIRLINES INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7277 PERIMETER RD S. |
| Aircraft Owner City | SEATTLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98108 |
| 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 | APCA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PDT |
| Departure City | PENDLETON |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 945 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | LGD |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |