Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Anacortes, Washington 98221
Wednesday, August 26, 1998 10:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he and his passenger met earlier in the morning at the pilot's residence on a lake. The purpose of the flight was to take aerial photos of property on an island. He said that while en route, the flight encountered a lowering overcast layer. He diverted and landed at a marina. He then step-taxied the aircraft through a pass in the direction of the islands. The weather was still poor when they exited the pass and the pilot beached the aircraft in a cove. The flight remained for a period of time before departing toward the islands. The pilot does not recall all of the events leading up to the accident. A boater who came upon the wreckage shortly after the accident, reported that the weather was a low overcast layer at 400 to 500 feet and visibility was one-quarter to one-half mile. The float-equipped aircraft was positioned on the beach, out of the water, with the nose positioned up against the rock outcropping. Impact damage from the terrain was noted to the left wing tip, right wing leading edge, both front end floats were crushed upward and rearward, the lower left side of the engine cowling was crushed rearward, the propeller and spinner were damaged, and the tail cone was broken just aft of the baggage compartment The boater was asked if the pilot said anything about the accident. The boater stated that the pilot said that 'we were going too fast.' During the investigation, there was no evidence found to indicate a mechanical failure or malfunction.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Terrain clearance was not maintained. A low ceiling and the pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision were factors.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/26/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | ANACORTES |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98221 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| 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 | 1655 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 140 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | NUW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 47 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1236 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 26 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1125 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:43AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1069M |
| NTSB Number | SEA98FA170 |
| 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 | 172L |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172L |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17259800 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 25 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 74 |
| Airframe Hours | 6058 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FREDERICK E. KNUTZEN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1757 W. BIG LAKE BLVD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | MOUNT VERNON |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98273 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | |
| Departure City | MOUNT VERNON |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 830 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | STUART ISLAND |
| Destination State | WA |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |