Desert Aire Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Mattawa, Washington 99344
Thursday, June 7, 2001 17:37 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During the landing roll into a left quartering headwind the pilot encountered a sudden gust from the left. The conventionally geared aircraft drifted right off the runway and the pilot added power attempting to execute a go around. The aircraft rolled further off the right side of the runway, encountered sage brush and then nosed over. The wind conditions at the airport were reported by the pilot.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the aircraft during the landing roll. Contributing factors were the gusty crosswind condition and the high vegetation (sage brush) which the aircraft rolled into before nosing over.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/7/2001
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1737
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Mattawa
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99344
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Desert Aire Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 4WA9
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 570
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1756 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 235
Weather Observation Facility ID YKM
Elevation of weather observation facility 1095
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 26
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.01
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) 11542
NTSB Notification Source FAA SEA ROC
NTSB Notification Date Jun 8 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 700
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Feb 20 2002 1:46PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Spokane FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7415B
NTSB Number SEA01LA114
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Champion
Aircraft Model 7EC
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 7EC-449
Certified Max Gross Weight 1450
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 Oct 28 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 70
Airframe Hours 2661
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Riedinger, James A.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 10618 SE 240th Street
Aircraft Owner City Kent
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98031
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code YKM
Departure City Yakima
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1645
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 4WA9
Destination City Mattawa
Destination State WA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 30 2001 6:23PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 28
Runway Length 3666
Runway Width 36
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --