Martha Lake Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Alderwood Manor, Washington 98036
Saturday, June 10, 1989 15:37 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

AFTER MAKING A LOW PASS OVER THE AIRPORT, THE PILOT FLEW A VFR TRAFFIC PATTERN AT A LOW ALTITUDE. HE INITIATED A STEEP LEFT TURN TO FINAL APPROACH AT 100 FT ABOVE THE LAKE ABOUT 1 MILE FROM THE AIRPORT. THE AIRCRAFT ROLLED FURTHER LEFT, DESCENDED IN A NOSE LOW ATTITUDE & IMPACTED THE WATER.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN PROPER AIRSPEED. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE THE PILOT'S POOR JUDGEMENT IN FLYING A TRAFFIC PATTERN AT TREE-TOP LEVEL AND A TAILWIND CONDITION DURING THE STEEP TURN TO FINAL.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/10/1989
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1537
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City ALDERWOOD MANOR
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98036
Event Date Year 1989
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport MARTHA LAKE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID S13
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 210
Airport Elevation 500
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Unknown
Time of the weather observation 1545 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 310
Weather Observation Facility ID PAE
Elevation of weather observation facility 603
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 3
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 21000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 19
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
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) 980
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 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1746
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 10 1989 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1615
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 40766
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 12:47PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8020E
NTSB Number SEA89FA103
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name WHITTAKER
Aircraft Model BUSHBY MUSTANG 1
Aircraft Series Identifier BUSHBY MUS
Aircraft Serial Number 244
Certified Max Gross Weight 1500
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DAVID E. DEAN
Aircraft Owner Street Address RT. 4, BOX 69
Aircraft Owner City SUMMERLAND KEY
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33042
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name JOSE RAUL FRANCO
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 1991 SEQUOIA AVE
Operator City PORT ORCHARD
Operator State WA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 98366
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 OS8
Departure City PORT ORCHARD
Departure State WA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1505
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
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 34
Runway Length 1700
Runway Width 40
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --