Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Skagit Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Burlington, Washington 98233
Tuesady, February 4, 2003 5:10 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that during the preflight he noted ice and frost adhering to the airplane. After applying glycol he polished and brushed off the frost. The pilot warmed up the engines before taking off to stay in the pattern "to clear the airplane of the ice, and to make sure everything was working properly." Before releasing the brakes, the pilot brought the power up to make sure everything was in the green. The pilot stated that for takeoff, he "tried to baby the engines using a less than max power for the departure." The tail of the airplane came up about 3/4 of the way down the runway. Seeing the end of the runway, more power was added and the aircraft lifted off. The landing gear was raised when a positive rate was attained. Shortly after gear retraction the pilot stated that, "I felt the airplane mushing, like a stall. I then added more power, but the aircraft kept mushing, and then it impacted terrain with power on both engines." The aircraft came to rest in an open field located approximately 1/4 mile from the end of the runway. After the accident, ice was still noted adhering to most of the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to adequately remove ice/frost from the aircraft and to maintain airspeed during the initial climb after takeoff. An inadequate preflight was a factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/4/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 510 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Burlington |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98233 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 482858N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1222624W |
| Event Location Airport | Skagit Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BVS |
| 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 | 144 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 505 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BVS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 144 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.45 |
| 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) | 13729 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Operator |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 4 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 630 |
| 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 Washington |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N48K |
| NTSB Number | SEA03LA034 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | E18S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | BA-202 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 10100 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 2 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 70 |
| Airframe Hours | 19243 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Comanche Air Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | RR 1 Box 446 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Winthrop |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98862 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Methow Aviation |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 15400 Airport Drive |
| Operator City | Burlington |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98233 |
| Operator Code | GGPA |
| 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 | BVS |
| Departure City | Burlington |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 505 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | BVS |
| Destination City | Burlington |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 29 2003 4:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 28 |
| Runway Length | 5477 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |