Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Friday Harbor, Washington 98278
Friday, December 20, 1996 14:30 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

After takeoff, the airplane was climbing through 2,500 feet mean sea level (MSL), when the engine began to vibrate severely and make loud metallic banging sounds. After about 10 seconds, the engine experienced a full loss of power, and the pilot was unable to get it restarted. Because he was too far from shore to be able to glide to land, he elected to ditch the airplane next to a fishing trawler. The airplane nosed over at impact with the water and sank to a depth of about 300 feet after the pilot safely egressed. The airplane and its maintenance log books were not recovered.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

failure of the engine (powerplant) for undetermined reason(s). A factor relating to the accident include: being over water at the time of power failure.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/20/1996
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1430
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City FRIDAY HARBOR
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98278
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
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 Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1555 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 330
Weather Observation Facility ID KNU
Elevation of weather observation facility 130
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 2
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 18000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 4000
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) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 4
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 130
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1398
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Dec 20 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1530
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N233C
NTSB Number SEA97LA039
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Stinson
Aircraft Model 108-2
Aircraft Series Identifier 108-2
Aircraft Serial Number 108-3233
Certified Max Gross Weight 2400
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 --
Airframe hours since last inspection 17
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name KEN AND CANDY LEGGETT
Aircraft Owner Street Address 11007 AERO LANE
Aircraft Owner City YELM
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98597
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name YELM AVIATION
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address P.O. BOX 305
Operator City MCKENNA
Operator State WA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 98558
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) Business
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code FHR
Departure City
Departure State WA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1425
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code WA72
Destination City YELM
Destination State WA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency landing
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 --