Stuart Island Gast Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Stuart Island, Washington 98250
Sunday, September 28, 1997 10:45 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot elected to land on the 2,100-foot long grass runway with a tailwind of about 10 knots. After the aircraft passed the middle of the runway, the pilot realized that the aircraft would not stop in the remaining distance. Knowing that there was a downhill overrun that ended in the water, as the aircraft neared the end of the runway, the pilot elected to turn off the runway onto up-sloping terrain covered by tall grass. While rolling through the tall grass, the aircraft encountered a drainage ditch, resulting in the collapse of the nose gear and one main gear.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper decision to land on a wet grass runway with a ten knot tailwind. Factors were the wet runway surface and tailwind.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/28/1997
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1045
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City STUART ISLAND
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98250
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport STUART ISLAND GAST
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 7WA5
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 10
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 15000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
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) 30
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 45
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 15
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Light
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 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1054
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 13 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 900
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:34PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N55629
NTSB Number SEA97LA220
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 Piper
Aircraft Model PA-32-300
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-32-300
Aircraft Serial Number 32-7340128
Certified Max Gross Weight 3400
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 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 2 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 98
Airframe Hours 1747
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name TOLEDO FLYING CLUB, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address BOX 128, TOLEDO WINLOCK ARPT.
Aircraft Owner City TOLEDO
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98591
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 TDO
Departure City TOLEDO
Departure State WA
Departure Country
Departure Time 915
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 7WA5
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight 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 27
Runway Length 2100
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --