Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Willard Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tekoa, Washington 99033
Friday, July 13, 2001 10:15 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The non-current pilot, who was undergoing a 14 CFR 61.56 flight review with a flight instructor, was practicing a short field landing. According to airport data at the Internet site www.airnav.com, a 4-foot terrain rise is located 80 feet from the end of the runway. The pilots stated that this rise had a heavy growth of wheat about 3 to 4 feet tall at the time. The trainee pilot stated that the wheat at that time "was a solid dark green which gave no depth perception", which he stated "in essence created an invisible...wall" on short final. While on short final, the aircraft contacted the wheat, causing a rapid deceleration and loss of altitude (the flight instructor stated that once he noticed the terrain rise, he was unable to get on the controls before the aircraft contacted the wheat.) The airplane subsequently struck an approximately 2-foot-high bank along a dirt road approximately 40 feet from the end of the runway. As the aircraft crossed over this bank, all three wheels caught on the bank and sheared off. The aircraft then came down on the runway and slid down the runway for about 250 to 300 feet. According to the U.S. Government Airport/Facility Directory, the runway has a yellow centerline marking only, and the markings are very faded. The runway does not have a displaced threshold or visual approach slope indicator (VASI), and the U.S. Government Airport/Facility Directory lists obstructions for the runway as a powerline.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The non-current pilot's failure to maintain sufficient altitude or clearance with wheat crops on short final, and the flight instructor's inadequate remedial action. Factors included wheat crops and a dirt bank on short final, the runway's lack of a visual approach slope indicator installation, and a visual illusion (wheat crop matched background color) that impaired both pilots' ability to visually detect the wheat crops.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/13/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1015 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Tekoa |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99033 |
| 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 | Willard Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 73S |
| 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 | 40 |
| Airport Elevation | 2513 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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) | 11545 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 13 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1222 |
| 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, WA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4920F |
| NTSB Number | SEA01LA130 |
| 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-28-181 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7790073 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 14 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | 3453 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Donald Hudson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | S. 40211 Prairie View Rd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Rosalia |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99170 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Unknown |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | -- |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 73S |
| Destination City | Tekoa |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 29 2002 6:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 22 |
| Runway Length | 2261 |
| Runway Width | 25 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |