Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sandy, Oregon 97055
Tuesady, October 16, 2001 15:50 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a visual flight rules (VFR) cross country flight, the student pilot encountered, and intentionally entered, instrument meteorological conditions. Although his passenger requested that he turn around, the pilot elected to attempt to reach his intended destination. Eventually the flight encountered a squall line with its associated rain, clouds, mist, and high winds. When he thought he was in the vicinity of the destination airport, the pilot, who was navigating primarily with a hand-held global positioning system (GPS), descended to just under the clouds. While maneuvering under very low ceiling in strong winds and heavy rain, he spotted a clearing in the forested terrain, and decided to land there. While he was on short final to the clearing, the pilot inadvertently allowed the aircraft to collide with a tree, after which it traveled another 285 feet before impacting the ground. The student pilot had not received the required solo cross-country CFI pre-flight endorsement, and there was no record of him acquiring a weather briefing prior to the initiation of the flight or during any intermediate stop.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the trees while attempting to land in a field after entering an area of instrument meteorological conditions. Factors include low ceilings, rain, fog, strong winds, mountainous/hilly terrain, the pilot's intentional flight into an area of instrument meteorological conditions, and his failure to check forecast weather conditions prior to the flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/16/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1550 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Sandy |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97055 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| 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 | 200 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Heavy |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11907 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 16 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1630 |
| 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 | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Portland FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7502K |
| NTSB Number | SEA02FA005 |
| 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-18 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-216 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | Jul 25 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 5100 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Arthur F. Skipper, Jr. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Gresham |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97030 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | S33 |
| Departure City | Madras |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1420 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | S48 |
| Destination City | Country Squire |
| Destination State | OR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 1 2002 5:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |