Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Richland, Washington 99352
Tuesady, June 17, 1997 9:15 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot stated that he had just completed an aerial application spray run and was making a turn to the left when he felt the onset of a stall buffet. High terrain and power lines were nearby. The pilot lost sight of the power lines, and because of the high terrain in the flight path, the pilot chose to continue the left turn to avoid a collision with the power lines. During the turn, the airspeed and altitude continued to decay. The airplane collided with the ground at minimum airspeed and wings level. A postcrash fire ignited and consumed the aircraft. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane at the time of the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain airspeed. Inadequate in-flight planning and high obstructions that restricted evasive maneuvers were factors.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/17/1997
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 915
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City RICHLAND
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99352
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 6
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 945 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 100
Weather Observation Facility ID PSC
Elevation of weather observation facility 407
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 7
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 15000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 10000
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) 50
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 170
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) --
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) 1023
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 17 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1106
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:21PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9766V
NTSB Number SEA97LA143
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 137: Agricultural
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model A188
Aircraft Series Identifier A188
Aircraft Serial Number 188-0216
Certified Max Gross Weight 3300
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 1
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 --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name EAGLE CAP AVIATION INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 808 PENN AVE.
Aircraft Owner City LA GRANDE
Aircraft Owner State OR
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 97850
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 YYEG
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Agriculture
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not Unknown
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Unknown
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Unknown
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Aerial Application
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
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 --