Richland Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Richland, Washington 99353
Saturday, April 12, 2003 16:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The takeoff was normal until two-thirds of the way down the runway, at approximately 150 feet above ground level, the tension on the propeller drive belts slipped resulting in a loss of power. The pilot elected to make a right turn to land on an intersecting runway; however, the pilot's failure to lower the nose resulted in the loss of airspeed and the right wing stalling. The aircraft impacted the ground with its right wing tip, spun around 180 degrees, skidded backwards across a taxiway, and came to rest in sandy soil. The reason for the slippage of the drive belts was not determined. .

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed and the failure of the propeller drive assembly. A factor contributing to the accident was the inadvertent stall.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/12/2003
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1600
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Richland
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99353
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 461820N
Event Location Longitude 1191815W
Event Location Airport Richland Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID RLD
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
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) 50
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
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) 14107
NTSB Notification Source Pilot
NTSB Notification Date Apr 14 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 800
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 30 2003 9:55AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Spokane, Washington

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N125MZ
NTSB Number SEA03LA061
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 AVIA STROITEL
Aircraft Model AC-5M
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 005
Certified Max Gross Weight 660
Aircraft Category Glider
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 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 1 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 2
Airframe Hours 8
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Eugene A. Hess
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City West Richland
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99353
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country UZ
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code RLD
Departure City Richland
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1600
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code RLD
Destination City Richland
Destination State WA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency landing after takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 16 2003 12:29PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 1
Runway Length 3999
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --