Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lake Union Air Service Spb Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Seattle, Washington 98102
Monday, April 30, 2001 13:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The left seat pilot, who was undergoing training, accompanied by the right seat pilot (both pilots were instructors), taxied the floatplane out for departure. The aircraft was turned into the wind and takeoff power was beginning to be applied when the aircraft's right wing was picked up by a wind gust. The aircraft momentarily became airborne, pivoted and impacted the water slowly nosing over. A cold front was passing through the Puget Sound area shortly before the accident and strong, gusty winds out of the south were recorded at all Puget Sound stations in the area near the time of the accident. The pilot reported that the wind at the time of the accident was from 150 degrees at 25 knots with gusts to 43 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The high wind conditions encountered as the aircraft began its takeoff roll. Contributing factors were the variable and gusty wind conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/30/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Seattle |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98102 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Lake Union Air Service SPB |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | WA57 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 158 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BFI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 18 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 22 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.86 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13855 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SEA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 30 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1450 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 26 2003 8:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Renton FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6781L |
| NTSB Number | SEA01LA081 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | de Havilland |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 788 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5370 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 27 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 12 |
| Airframe Hours | 16470 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Kenmore Air Harbor, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 82064 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kenmore |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98028 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 6321 NE 175th |
| Operator City | Kenmore |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98028 |
| Operator Code | GJRA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | WA57 |
| Departure City | Seattle |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1245 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | S60 |
| Destination City | Seattle |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Taxi |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 30 2001 6:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |