Renton Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Renton, Washington 98055
Saturday, July 4, 1998 12:45 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that he was cleared for a low approach to pick up a banner. The pilot stated that after the banner pick-up, he applied full power and performed the 'normal abrupt climb.' The pilot leveled the airplane at about 50 feet when it experienced an 'abnormal sink.' The pilot stated that he failed to release the banner and the airplane continued to lose altitude. The airplane collided with the ground hard on the main landing gear. The left main landing gear collapsed and the left wing contacted the ground. The pilot stated that the winds were shifting and that he might have encountered a downdraft.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall. Failure to jettison the external load and downdrafts were factors.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/4/1998
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1245
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City RENTON
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98055
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport RENTON MUNI
Event Location Nearest Airport ID RNT
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 29
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1256 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 210
Weather Observation Facility ID SEA
Elevation of weather observation facility 429
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 4
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 5000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Broken
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 18
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
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) 272
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 4 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1310
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 11:38AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1296D
NTSB Number SEA98LA119
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 170A
Aircraft Series Identifier 170A
Aircraft Serial Number 19872
Certified Max Gross Weight 2200
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 Apr 11 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 2
Airframe Hours 4811
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JAMES W. JOHNSON
Aircraft Owner Street Address 16706 17TH AVE EAST
Aircraft Owner City SPANAWAY
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98387
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) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code RTN
Departure City RENTON
Departure State WA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1230
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code
Destination City YELM
Destination State WA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
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 15
Runway Length 5379
Runway Width 200
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --