Butte County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Arco, Idaho 83213
Sunday, September 8, 2002 11:30 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot, who was attempting a full stop landing on a paved runway, executed an uneventful touchdown, but during the landing roll the aircraft encountered a wind gust that lifted its left wing. Although the pilot attempted to correct the situation, he was unable to compensate for the sudden wind gust in time to keep the aircraft from entering an inadvertent ground loop. During the ground loop sequence, the left wing impacted the runway surface and sustained substantial damage. According to the pilot, there did not seem to be any malfunction of the aircraft's flight control system.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions, resulting in an inadvertent ground loop. Factors include wind gusts during the period of time at which the landing took place.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/8/2002
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1130
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Arco
Event State IDAHO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 83213
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 433613N
Event Location Longitude 1132003W
Event Location Airport Butte County Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID AOC
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 5328
Weather Briefing Completeness --
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) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 360
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 10
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12925
NTSB Notification Source Boise FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Oct 15 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1430
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 15 2003 4:03PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Boise FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N290AM
NTSB Number SEA02LA188
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 Aviat
Aircraft Model A-1B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 2196
Certified Max Gross Weight 2000
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 Nov 30 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 84
Airframe Hours 200
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Keith B. Thompson
Aircraft Owner Street Address On File
Aircraft Owner City Bellevue
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98008
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 No
Departure Airport Code U59
Departure City Driggs
Departure State ID
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1015
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code AOC
Destination City Arco
Destination State ID
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Dec 2 2002 2:04PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 06
Runway Length 6800
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --