Snohomish County (Paine Fld) Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Everett, Washington 98204
Friday, January 17, 2003 14:30 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that shortly after touchdown, the left main landing gear collapsed and the aircraft veered to the left, eventually exiting the runway edge and traveling down an embankment that’s adjacent to the runway. Post accident inspection of the aircraft's left main gear hydraulic system revealed that the hydraulic actuator locking slide was undersized which allowed the gear to collapse (unlock) when placed under a load.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Failure of the left main gear hydraulic actuator locking slide during landing. Factors include an embankment adjacent to the landing runway.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/17/2003
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1430
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Everett
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98204
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 475511N
Event Location Longitude 1221640W
Event Location Airport SNOHOMISH COUNTY (PAINE FLD)
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PAE
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport --
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.2
Degrees magnetic from airport 320
Airport Elevation 606
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
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 KPAE
Elevation of weather observation facility 600
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 --
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) 7
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 10
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) 30.34
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) 14669
NTSB Notification Source FAA-REGIONAL OPERATIONS
NTSB Notification Date Jan 17 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1547
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 30 2003 8:55AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Seattle, Washington

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N262AZ
NTSB Number SEA03LA027
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Classic Fighter Industries
Aircraft Model ME-262 Reproduction
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 501241
Certified Max Gross Weight 12499
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 2
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Nov 19 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 1.5
Airframe Hours 1.5
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Lou Werner
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Scottsdale
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85251
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Wolfgang Czaia
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Clinton
Operator State WA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 98236
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) Flight Test
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code PAE
Departure City Everett
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code PAE
Destination City Everett
Destination State WA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Oct 23 2003 1:58PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 34
Runway Length 9000
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --