Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Snoqualmie Pass, Washington 98068
Saturday, July 17, 1999 13:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While en route from Lewistown, Montana, to Olympia, Washington, on an instrument flight plan, the pilot developed a problem with the aircraft's autopilot and elected to cancel his instrument flight plan and proceed to Seattle, Washington, where repairs to the aircraft could be made. The pilot stated he was going to continue on his IFR flight plan until reaching Ellensburg, Washington, and then '...change to VFR and drop down and fly through the pass.' Approximately 30 minutes after the pilot canceled his IFR flight plan, a witness observed an aircraft 'with two tail fins' fly out of the clouds and proceed westbound along the Interstate Highway. The witness, who did not see the crash, also stated that the visibility was 100-300 feet, and the clouds were low to the ground. The aircraft collided with mountainous terrain approximately 25 miles east of Seattle, Washington.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from mountainous terrain while maneuvering below low ceilings. Factors include low ceilings and inadequate in-flight planning.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/17/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | SNOQUALMIE PASS |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98068 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| 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 | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1256 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 130 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SMP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3800 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| 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) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1333 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 18 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1349 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 10:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N98C |
| NTSB Number | SEA99FA126 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | T-337 G-P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | T-337 G-P |
| Aircraft Serial Number | P3370135 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4700 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 12 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2025 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DENNIS L. WALDOCK |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2243 SORBUS WAY |
| Aircraft Owner City | ANCHORAGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99508 |
| 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 | LWT |
| Departure City | LEWISTOWN |
| Departure State | MT |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1031 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BFI |
| Destination City | SEATTLE |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 12:27PM |
| 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 | -- |