Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Steptoe, Washington 99174
Wednesday, April 14, 1993 15:24 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE A6E WAS TRACKING 033 DEG LEVEL AT 200 FT AGL AT 468 KTS VFR IN PUBLISHED ROUTE VR-1354. THE AGCAT WAS TRACKING 334 DEG LEVEL AT 200 FT AGL AT 96 KTS VFR ACROSS THE ROUTE TO HIS DESTINATION SPRAY FIELD. THE TWO AIRCRAFT CONVERGED ON A 59 DEG COLLISION ANGLE WITH A CLOSURE SPEED OF 429 KTS. THE A6E NOTIFIED FSS THAT HE WAS ENTERING THE ROUTE LATE AND PROJECTED EXITING 8 MINUTES AFTER THE PUBLISHED CLOSURE OF THE ROUTE. THE AGCAT PILOT REPORTED HE WAS UNAWARE OF ANY INFORMATION/PUBLICATIONS REGARDING THE OPERATION OF MILITARY AIRCRAFT IN THE AREA. THE LOCAL FSS WAS IN THE HABIT OF REPORTING THE ROUTE 'HOT' 24 HRS A DAY RATHER THAN THE PRECISE SCHEDULE. THE CONVERGENCE ANGLE OF THE A6E WAS 111 DEG (8 O'CLOCK POSITION & BEHIND THE AGCAT'S LEFT WING). THE CONVERGENCE ANGLE OF THE AGCAT WAS 10 DEG. AT THE PROJECTED CLOSURE SPEED THE AGCAT WOULD HAVE SUBTENDED AN ANGLE OF 0.2 DEG 8.6 SECS BEFORE IMPACT; THE A6E 19.2 SECS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE INHERENT LIMITATIONS OF THE SEE-AND-AVOID CONCEPT OF SEPARATION OF AIRCRAFT OPERATING UNDER VISUAL FLIGHT RULES THAT PRECLUDED THE CREW OF THE A6E AND THE PILOT OF THE AGCAT FROM RECOGNIZING A COLLISION HAZARD AND TAKING ACTIONS TO AVOID A MIDAIR COLLISION.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/14/1993 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1524 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | STEPTOE |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99174 |
| Event Date Year | 1993 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1456 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 105 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PUW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2252 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 474 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 14 1993 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1554 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 50895 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 1:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | USN | N8630H |
| NTSB Number | SEA93FA094A | SEA93FA094B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Armed Forces | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | In-flight | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | GRUMMAN | Grumman-Schweizer |
| Aircraft Model | A6E | G-164A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | A6E | G-164A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 155665 | 1439 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 60400 | 5391 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Military | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 2 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 28 1992 12:00AM | Feb 4 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 131 | 94 |
| Airframe Hours | 4784 | 5014 |
| ELT Installed | No | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | UNITED STATES NAVY | FENDER, DARRELL |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | ATTACK SQUADRON 95 (VA-95) | PO BOX 143 |
| Aircraft Owner City | UNIT 25338 FPO | COLFAX |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA | |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 996016224 | 99111 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | UNITED STATES NAVY | FENDER, DARRELL |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | ATTACK SQUADRON 95 (VA-95) | PO BOX 143 |
| Operator City | UNIT 25338 FPO | COLFAX |
| Operator State | WA | |
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | 996016224 | 99111 |
| Operator Code | NRVG | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown | Agriculture |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Unknown | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Unknown | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Unknown | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NUW | 0WA0 |
| Departure City | NAS WHIDBEY IS | COLFAX |
| Departure State | WA | WA |
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 1440 | 1520 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | NUW | 0WA0 |
| Destination City | ||
| Destination State | ||
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 22 2001 3:26PM | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |