Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Spiden Island Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Spiden Island, Washington 98250
Friday, April 12, 1996 19:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he had flown into the 1,500-foot grass airstrip earlier in the day with a flight instructor in a Cessna 185. After the landing, he and the instructor took off using 1/3 of the length of the airstrip. Later that day, the pilot rented a Cessna 150 and took a friend on a personal flight to the same airstrip. He stated that he landed the airplane uphill to the east without incident. He then turned around and began a takeoff roll downhill to the west on the wet grass airstrip. The pilot further stated that he aborted the takeoff 2/3 of the way down the strip because he believed he was not getting the necessary airspeed to rotate. He reduced the power and applied brakes, but was unable to stop the airplane before it impacted an embankment and trees on the opposite end of the airstrip. No mechanical malfunction was reported by the pilot. The pilot stated that the airstrip was 'too small' for the aircraft to take off and that he should not have landed there.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's selection of an unsuitable airstrip for the landing and subsequent takeoff, and his delay in aborting the takeoff, which resulted in an overrun and collision with an embankment and trees. Factors relating to the accident were: the short, wet, grassy, downhill airstrip conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/12/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1930 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | SPIDEN ISLAND |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98250 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SPIDEN ISLAND |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1945 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 100 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 606 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1700 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 928 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 12 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2045 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 9:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N171RJ |
| NTSB Number | SEA96LA080 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15063038 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HIGGINSON, JAMES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 679 SUDDEN VALLEY |
| Aircraft Owner City | BELLINGHAM |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98226 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | FOUNTAIN RENTAL/LEASING |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2010 BROADWAY |
| Operator City | BELLINGHAM |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 98225 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BLI |
| Destination City | BELLINGHAM |
| 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 | 1500 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |