Darrington Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Darrington, Washington 98241
Saturday, July 14, 1990 18:25 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE FLIGHT ENCOUNTERED DOWNDRAFT WINDS ON FINAL APPROACH AT A LOW ALTITUDE ABOVE THE GROUND. THE PILOT APPLIED FULL POWER, BUT THE ACFT CONTINUED DESCENT AND IMPACTED A TREE AND THE GROUND SHORT OF THE LANDING RWY.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

THE INFLIGHT ENCOUNTER WITH TURBULENT DOWNDRAFT WINDS THAT RESULTED IN A VERTICAL DESCENT FROM WHICH THE PILOT COULD NOT RECOVER WITH FULL POWER APPLIED.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/14/1990
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1825
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City DARRINGTON
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98241
Event Date Year 1990
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport DARRINGTON
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 1S2
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 543
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1745 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 210
Weather Observation Facility ID PAE
Elevation of weather observation facility 606
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 34
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) 75
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 25
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 330
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 1640
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) 6009
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 14 1990 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1845
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 41392
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 5:10PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number CGIEK
NTSB Number SEA90LA138
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 TAYLORCRAFT
Aircraft Model F-19
Aircraft Series Identifier F-19
Aircraft Serial Number F-056
Certified Max Gross Weight 1500
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class Foreign 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 4
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 14 1990 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 17
Airframe Hours 1497
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name UNKNOWN
Aircraft Owner Street Address
Aircraft Owner City
Aircraft Owner State
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name DAVID A WHEELWRIGHT
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 2308 THACKER DR
Operator City KELOWNA
Operator State CD
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 S55
Departure City ARLINGTON
Departure State WA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1754
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 28
Runway Length 2350
Runway Width 40
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --