Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Auburn Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Auburn, Washington 98002
Tuesady, September 26, 2000 9:50 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot fueled the tail-wheel equipped Aeronca 11BC aircraft prior to a planned departure. The aircraft was not equipped with a parking brake, and the lack of an electric starter required hand propping to start the engine. The pilot secured the aircraft with a length of rope with one end connected at the aircraft's releasable tie-down tail hook, and the opposing end tied to a Chevron sign post. Initial attempts to start the aircraft with the throttle closed were unsuccessful, and the pilot then 'cracked' the throttle and hand propped the engine, which started immediately. The pilot reported that she 'saw the aircraft idling too fast and moving forward.' The rope then broke and the aircraft taxied into the metal barricades protecting the fuel pumps. The pilot reported that she carried chocks in the aircraft but had not used them at the time of the engine start.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to adequately secure the aircraft prior to a manual engine start. A contributing factor was the excessive throttle setting on start.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/26/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 950 |
| 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 | 9 |
| 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 | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 57 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 335 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RNT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 29 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| 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 | 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 910 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SEA FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 27 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 25 2001 4:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3954E |
| NTSB Number | SEA00LA191 |
| 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 | Aeronca |
| Aircraft Model | 11BC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 11BC |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 11BC-38 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1250 |
| 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 | Sep 2 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RITTENHOUSE, LYNN C. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 17649 SE 297TH 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? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 17685 SE 301ST STREET |
| Operator City | KENT |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | S50 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | S36 |
| Destination City | CREST AIRPARK |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 25 2001 4:11AM |
| 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 | -- |