Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Pierce Co-Thun Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Puyallup, Washington 98375
Saturday, February 2, 2002 10:33 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that the engines had full power before rotation, and that the takeoff roll was normal until rotation. Right after the aircraft lifted off, the left wing dropped and he felt a swerve to the left, and the aircraft's nose pitched up. The pilot pushed on the control yoke and attempted to counteract the roll motion with opposite aileron. The aircraft continued to the left and collided with trees approximately 1,250 feet from the departure end of the runway and about 100 yards east of the runway edge. Post accident inspection of the flight controls found control continuity from all flight control surfaces to the cockpit controls. The left engine was inspected and partially torn down. During the engine inspection, there was no evidence found to indicate a mechanical failure or malfunction.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during takeoff. Trees were a factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/2/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1033 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Puyallup |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98375 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 470624N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1221723W |
| Event Location Airport | Pierce Co-Thun Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 1S0 |
| 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 | 538 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 955 Pacific Standard 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?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.16 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13724 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 2 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1112 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 23 2003 8:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Seattle (Renton), WA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N520SE |
| NTSB Number | SEA02FA036 |
| 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 | Aero Commander |
| Aircraft Model | 520 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 520-25 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5500 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 29 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 3477 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert M. Kosola |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Sumner |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98390 |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 1S0 |
| Departure City | Puyallup |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1033 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| 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 | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 23 2003 5:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 3650 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |