Skagit Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Burlington, Washington 98233
Monday, March 29, 2004 13:00 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that he was practicing touch and go landings on runway 10 at the Skagit Regional airport. On the eighth landing the pilot encountered a sudden gust of wind approximately five feet above ground and executed a go around maneuver. He reported that his passenger panicked inadvertently pushing the control stick full forward. The aircraft nosed down steeply to a hard landing impacting the propeller on the runway. The pilot reported that "...better communication & briefing of passenger about go-around may have prevented panic by passenger...." Winds at Arlington Municipal airport, situated 21 nautical miles southeast of Burlington airport, at 1255 on the afternoon of the accident were reported as coming from 120 degrees magnetic at 17 knots with gusts to 20 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The passenger's interference with flight controls during a go-around maneuver. Contributing to the accident were the passenger's anxiety/apprehension, the pilot's inadequate brief to the passenger about potential control interference, and the gusty wind conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/29/2004
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1300
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Burlington
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98233
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 482809N
Event Location Longitude 1222514W
Event Location Airport Skagit Regional
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 Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1255 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 220
Weather Observation Facility ID NUW
Elevation of weather observation facility 47
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 12
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 14000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 110
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.79
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16428
NTSB Notification Source FAA SEA FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Apr 7 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1355
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 29 2004 1:02PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Renton FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N65ZA
NTSB Number SEA04LA066
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 PZL Warzawa-Okecie
Aircraft Model PZL-104 Wilga 35A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18830758
Certified Max Gross Weight 2866
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Conditional
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection 10
Airframe Hours 2700
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Jacobson, Timothy S.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Gig Harbor
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98329
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Martynovych, James A.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Coupeville
Operator State WA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 98239
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 BVS
Departure City Burlington
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1200
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code BVS
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Go-around (VFR)
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 4 2004 6:23PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 10
Runway Length 5478
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --