Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Oroville, Washington 98844
Wednesday, June 16, 2004 14:41 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On the morning of the accident the pilot ferried the airplane from Canada to Oroville, Washington, for a 100-hour inspection and to clear US Customs. Following the maintenance inspection and customs detail the pilot departed the airport, however shortly after takeoff the pilot returned to the departure airport after experiencing a problem with the airplane's global positioning system (GPS). Repairs to the unit were made and the pilot departed the airport. Approximately 10 minutes after the departure, local authorities received notification of a downed airplane east of the airport. The airplane collided with rising terrain approximately five miles east of the airport. Witnesses reported hearing the airplane fly up the valley east of the airport. One witness stated the airplane was running "...smooth, strong and easy", but didn't seem to be "pulling." A second witness reported the airplane was flying low up the valley and the engine was running smooth. Post accident examination of the airplane's engine revealed no evidence to indicate a mechanical failure that would have resulted in a loss of engine power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate terrain clearance, which resulted in the in-flight collision with terrain. Rising terrain was a factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/16/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1441 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Oroville |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98844 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 455600N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1191707W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 177 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KOMK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1305 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 21 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.14 |
| 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) | 17485 |
| NTSB Notification Source | ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 16 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1505 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2005 6:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Spokane, Washington |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | C-GKGE |
| NTSB Number | SEA04FA106 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | North American |
| Aircraft Model | SNJ 5 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 84832 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5300 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 16 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 300 |
| Airframe Hours | 300 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Vernon B. Hupp |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Oliver, BC |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 0S7 |
| Departure City | OROVILLE |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Unknown |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | UN |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Unknown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |