Auburn Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Auburn, Washington 98002
Wednesday, April 12, 2000 13:51 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot, accompanied by a passenger, was conducting a low approach at full flaps (40 degrees) in the Cessna 150M to a minimum altitude of approximately five feet AGL above the runway. Following the go-around, he added full power but left the flaps fully extended. The aircraft failed to climb, and approaching high tension power lines across his flight path he made a gradual right turn, ultimately colliding with a second set of power lines perpendicular to his flight path and approximately 55 feet above ground. The Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH) for the aircraft discussed flap settings for takeoff and specifically stated 'flap deflections greater than 10 degrees are not approved for takeoff.' Additionally, the POH also discussed balked landing procedures stating 'in a balked landing (go-around) climb, the wing flap setting should be reduced to 20 degrees immediately after full power is applied. The POH balked landing checklist included a requirement to retract the flaps to '20 DEGREES.' Post-crash examination revealed that the flaps were fully extended.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to follow aircraft operating procedures by not raising the flaps during the go-around maneuver. Contributing factors were the pilot's failure to adhere to the balked landing checklist (FLAPS to 20) resulting in degraded climb performance, and the power lines in his flight path.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/12/2000
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1351
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City AUBURN
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98002
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport AUBURN MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID S50
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport 5
Airport Elevation 57
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1356 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 312
Weather Observation Facility ID SEA
Elevation of weather observation facility 429
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 7
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 11000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 17
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 3
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 Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 2
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 4
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 4
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 212
NTSB Notification Source FAA ROC
NTSB Notification Date Apr 12 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1410
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jan 10 2001 10:16AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9301U
NTSB Number SEA00LA070
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 150M
Aircraft Series Identifier 150M
Aircraft Serial Number 15078251
Certified Max Gross Weight 1600
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 10 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 72
Airframe Hours 2866
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name PAHOLKE LEASING, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2022 227TH AVENUE NE
Aircraft Owner City REDMOND
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98053
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name ARCHER, THOMAS, E.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 25760 174TH PLACE SE
Operator City COVINGTON
Operator State WA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 98042
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 RNT
Departure City RENTON
Departure State WA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1245
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 Jan 10 2001 12:27PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 34
Runway Length 3400
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --