Crest Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Kent, Washington 98042
Tuesady, August 25, 1998 19:15 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The flight instructor reported that he performed a normal wheel-landing. During the landing roll, the airplane began to veer to the left of centerline. The flight instructor indicated to the commercial pilot, who was following on the controls, not to apply brakes. The flight instructor stated that he corrected the direction of travel back to centerline as the tail wheel was lowered. The airplane remained on centerline for several hundred feet, then began to veer to the right. The airplane continued to veer to the right and traveled off the runway at approximately mid-field. The airplane subsequently ground-looped before coming to rest on the grassy area between the runway and taxiway. The flight instructor reported that there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane at the time of the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Directional control was not maintained by the pilot in command.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/25/1998
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1915
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City KENT
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98042
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 CREST AIRPARK
Event Location Nearest Airport ID S36
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 466
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1856 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 290
Weather Observation Facility ID SEA
Elevation of weather observation facility 429
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 10
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 20000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
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) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 1287
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 602
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 25 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2010
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Feb 16 2001 11:58AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N91LJ
NTSB Number SEA98LA171
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 Dornbos
Aircraft Model BD-4
Aircraft Series Identifier BD-4
Aircraft Serial Number 1
Certified Max Gross Weight 2000
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
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 Jun 21 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 3
Airframe Hours 171
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DUANE J. GRINDSTAFF
Aircraft Owner Street Address 17628 SE 288TH PLACE
Aircraft Owner City KENT
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98042
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code S36
Departure City KENT
Departure State WA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1815
Departure Time Zone PDT
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 --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 20 2001 6:29PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 33
Runway Length 3267
Runway Width 40
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --