Vaughn Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Fragaria, Washington 98367
Saturday, July 7, 2001 10:30 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot landed the Piper PA-24-250, 200-300 feet beyond the displaced threshold of the 2,200 foot long dry, upsloping, grass runway. After touchdown he observed a deer standing slightly right of the runway centerline and chose not to attempt a go-around maneuver on the unidirectional runway because of the upsloping runway condition and tall trees at the north end. The pilot believed that the deer was too close to allow the aircraft to stop in time and thus maneuvered to the left side of the runway trying to avoid a collision. He applied full brakes and during the landing roll, the aircraft departed the left side of the runway encountering an embankment and ground looping to a stop. The pilot reported that the runway width was 50 feet with an approximate 25 feet of additional surface outboard of each side of the runway.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate directional control. Contributing factors were the embankment and the deer.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/7/2001
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1030
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Fragaria
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98367
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Vaughn
Event Location Nearest Airport ID WN13
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 260
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1056 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 75
Weather Observation Facility ID SEA
Elevation of weather observation facility 18
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 11
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1300
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 17
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.12
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13860
NTSB Notification Source Pilot
NTSB Notification Date Jul 12 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1445
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 Seattle FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7994P
NTSB Number SEA01LA129
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 Piper
Aircraft Model PA-24-250
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 24-3235
Certified Max Gross Weight 2900
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jan 23 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 85
Airframe Hours 6628
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name 94P Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3417 30th Avenue West
Aircraft Owner City Seattle
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98199
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Love, Stephen W.
Operator Same as Owner? No
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 BFI
Departure City Seattle
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1020
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code WN13
Destination City Fragaria
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 6:26PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 02
Runway Length 2200
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --