Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Felts Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Spokane, Washington 99212
Saturday, July 21, 2001 15:47 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he departed in a flight of two for the local flight at an antique biplane show, since his airplane did not have a radio and the airport's control tower was in operation at the time. The pilot stated that on the landing approach, the lead aircraft slowed to allow another aircraft to clear the runway, which decreased the spacing between the two aircraft in the formation. He reported that he was approximately 100 to 150 yards behind the lead aircraft at touchdown on 3,059-foot by 75-foot asphalt runway 21L, which he reported was dry at the time. The pilot reported that the touchdown was normal, "but after a couple hundred feet of ground roll I encountered the wake turbulence of the lead [aircraft]." The pilot stated that he became unable to maintain directional control in the lead aircraft's wake turbulence, with the aircraft "veering left [and] right". The pilot stated that on a veer to the left, the right landing gear failed, and that the right wing then contacted the ground. The pilot indicated on his NTSB accident report that no mechanical failure or malfunction was involved in the accident. The pilot reported winds at the time as being from 160 degrees at 9 knots, and the 1553 Felts Field METAR observation reported winds as variable at 5 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot landed with insufficient formation spacing behind the lead aircraft, resulting in an encounter with the lead aircraft's wake turbulence, and subsequently lost directional control during landing roll.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/21/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1547 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Spokane |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99212 |
| 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 | Felts Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SFF |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1953 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SFF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1953 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| 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) | 11550 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 21 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1625 |
| 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 | N65900 |
| NTSB Number | SEA01LA140 |
| 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 | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | E75N1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 75-5986 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| 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 3 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 21.1 |
| Airframe Hours | 3021.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Lawrence F. Johnson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3769 Deep Lake Boundary Rd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Colville |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 991149143 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SFF |
| Departure City | Spokane |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 30 2002 4:38PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21L |
| Runway Length | 3059 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |