Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Cawley's South Prairie Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Buckley, Washington 98321
Monday, August 27, 2001 13:29 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Several witnesses reported hearing the experimental, reduced scale World War II Hawker Hurricane's engine "sputtering," and a third witness reported hearing the same sound and then observing the aircraft crash at the north end of the 2,650 foot long, North/South oriented, grass airstrip. A fourth witness, located along the runway, reported hearing the aircraft having engine problems while the aircraft was approaching to land from south to north. He further reported that as the aircraft approached the runway, the engine quit and that the aircraft continued flying north until reaching the north end of the runway at which time the plane pulled up to "tree top level" appearing to attempt a turn back to the runway, and then fell back to the ground nose first. Post-crash examination of the aircraft's engine revealed no mechanical malfunction, and fuel was found in the aircraft's main tanks but the header tank was ruptured. A satellite photograph of the airstrip and surrounding area revealed approximately 1,500 feet of open field directly north of the crash site as confirmed by an FAA inspector at the site. Toxicological evaluation of blood samples from the pilot revealed Diphenhydramine, commonly known by the trade name "Benadryl," an antihistamine. The level of Diphenhydramine found in the pilot's blood was reported as being consistent with several times the normal dosage within an eight-hour period. In such doses, the medication commonly results in drowsiness, and has measurable effects on performance of complex cognitive and motor tasks.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of power for undetermined reasons, and the pilot's inflight decision to attempt a 180 degree turn back to the runway from low altitude and his failure to maintain sufficient flying airspeed during the turn. A contributing factor was drug impairment of the pilot as a result of higher than normal levels of Benedryl, an antihistamine which affects the ability to perform complex cognitive and motor tasks.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/27/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1329 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Buckley |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98321 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Cawley's South Prairie |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 02WA |
| 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 | 690 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1355 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 245 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TCM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 323 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11901 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SEA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 27 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1357 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 18 2002 10:15AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Renton FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3941Q |
| NTSB Number | SEA01LA158 |
| 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 | Matey |
| Aircraft Model | Hawker Hurricane |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1008 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1475 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 7 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 152 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Terrana, Carl J. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Buckley |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98321 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 02WA |
| Departure City | Buckley |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering - turn to reverse direction |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 1 2002 4:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 2650 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |