Fairchild Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Port Angeles, Washington 98362
Saturday, April 16, 1988 5:45 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

DRG ARR, THE FLT WAS HANDED OFF TO WHIDBEY ISLAND APCH CTL AT WHIDBEY ISLAND (NUW) NAVAL AIR STN (NAS). NUW WAS 35 MI NE OF THE DESTN (FAIRCHILD INTL ARPT/CLM), AT PORT ANGELES, WHICH HAD NO OPERG CTL TWR. THE PLT WAS GIVEN THE NUW WX, WHICH WAS 400 SCAT, ESTD 2600' OVC, VIS 6 MI WITH FOG. THE FLT WAS VECTORED TOWARD CLM & WAS CLRD TO DSCND TO THE MIN VECTORING ALT OF 1000' MSL OVER THE STRAITS OF JUAN DE FUCA. THE PLT RPRTD THE ARPT BEACON IN SIGHT & CANCELLED HIS IFR CLNC. THE ACFT WAS OBSERVED TO FLY OVER THE ARPT AT LOW ALT ON A SW HEADING. THE UNICOM OPERATOR ASKED THE PLT FOR A CEILING RPRT, BUT THE PLT REPLIED THAT HE WAS UNABLE TO DETERMINE THE CEILING DUE TO FOG. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT CRASHEDON RISING TERRAIN ABOUT 2 MI SSW OF THE ARPT, WHILE IN A LEVEL TURN AT AN ELEV OF 1300'. THE 0505 PDT WX AT CLM WAS ESTD 500' BRKN, 4000' OVC, VIS 6 MI WITH FOG. THE CTLR RPRTD THAT ON INITIAL CONTACT WITH THE FLT, THE 0505 WX FOR CLM WAS NOT YET AVAILABLE ON HIS WX VISION SCREEN. THE ARPT ELEV AT CLM WAS 290'.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/16/1988
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 545
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City PORT ANGELES
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98362
Event Date Year 1988
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport FAIRCHILD
Event Location Nearest Airport ID CLM
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 290
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 545
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 194
Weather Observation Facility ID CLM
Elevation of weather observation facility 290
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 2
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
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) 0
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 9
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 620
Intensity of Precipitation Light
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 3
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 690
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Apr 17 1988 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 610
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 36662
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 11:41AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N36815
NTSB Number SEA88FA078
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name PIPER
Aircraft Model PA-32RT-300T
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-32RT-30
Aircraft Serial Number 32R 7887086
Certified Max Gross Weight 3600
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 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 12 1987 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 80
Airframe Hours 915
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JAMES S. BELL
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2313 WEDGEWOOD DRIVE SE
Aircraft Owner City OLYMPIA
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98501
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name JAMES STANLEY BELL
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 2312 WEDGEWOOD DR SE
Operator City OLYMPIA
Operator State WA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 98501
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 OLM
Departure City OLYMPIA
Departure State WA
Departure Country
Departure Time 507
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code CLM
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
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 8
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --