Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Grants Pass Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Grants Pass, Oregon 97526
Friday, June 20, 2003 14:25 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot/builder of the RV-8, in preparation for the sale of the aircraft, had been conducting taxi tests and power checks for several days before the accident. Additionally, the aircraft had not been flown in about a year. On the afternoon of the accident he departed runway 30 and shortly thereafter radioed that he was having engine problems and was going to try to make it back to the airport. Witnesses observed the aircraft midfield on downwind at the time these transmissions were made but the aircraft continued well past the abeam position and did not commence the base turn until about one-half mile beyond the abeam position. The aircraft struck scrub trees at the midspan location of each wing and then crashed in a lightly wooded area approximately 3,300 feet short of the threshold of runway 30. The cockpit interior space sustained no deformation or space reduction with the exception of an impact at the top edge of the aluminum glare shield, and the instrument panel was intact with no broken/cracked instrument glass. The pilot was found with his seatbelt fastened and his shoulder harness unfastened and behind him at the accident site. A review of the pilot's personal medical records revealed that the pilot was taking amitriptyline (a prescription antidepressant also known by the trade name Elavil) for insomnia, and hydrocodone (a prescription narcotic) for chronic abdominal pain. Nortriptyline (a prescription antidepressant and metabolite of amitriptyline) was found at very high levels in the pilot's blood. In addition, a low level of doxylamine (an over-the-counter sleep aid) was detected in the pilots blood and amitriptyline, nortriptyline, doxylamine, hydrocodone, and metabolites of hydrocodone were detected in his urine. Post-crash examination revealed no mechanical malfunction with the aircraft's powerplant, systems or controls with the exception of the aircraft's Bendix fuel servo which, upon disassembly, was found to have extensive internal corrosion and contamination.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Corrosion and contamination within the fuel servo unit and the pilot's delayed turn back to the runway. Contributing factors were trees and the pilot's impairment due to prescription medication.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/20/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1425 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Grants Pass |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97526 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422959N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1232237W |
| Event Location Airport | Grants Pass |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 3S8 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 140 |
| Airport Elevation | 1126 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1356 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 348 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SXT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3838 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15240 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SEA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 20 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1455 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2004 8:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Hillsboro FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N863Y |
| NTSB Number | SEA03FA110 |
| 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 | Harshbarger W/Reed |
| Aircraft Model | RV-8 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 80259 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 98.2 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Reed, Farn T. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Grants Pass |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97526 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 3S8 |
| Departure City | Grants Pass |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1420 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| 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 | Approach - VFR pattern - downwind |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 22 2004 4:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 |
| Runway Length | 3999 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |