Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Port Angeles, Washington 98362
Tuesady, August 3, 2004 21:53 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The passengers reported that shortly after takeoff in dark night conditions, the pilot made a turn toward rising terrain. During the climb, the aircraft entered clouds. The passenger could see terrain on both sides of the aircraft and questioned the pilot as to what mountain she was seeing. The pilot responded, "just a minute." The aircraft then suddenly broke out of the cloud and the passenger could see trees in front of the airplane. The pilot pulled up, but the aircraft collided with the tree tops and tumbled through the trees for several hundred feet before coming to rest. The passengers reported no engine or aircraft malfunction or physiological problems with the pilot at the time. Rain, clouds and fog were reported in the area at the time.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's VFR flight into IMC and his failure to maintain clearance from trees. Trees, mountainous terrain, dark night conditions, clouds and VFR flight into IMC were factors.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/3/2004
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 2153
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Port Angeles
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98362
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 480152N
Event Location Longitude 1232613W
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 2153 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 320
Weather Observation Facility ID CLM
Elevation of weather observation facility 291
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 6
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 3700
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.02
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 2
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 17224
NTSB Notification Source FAA ROC
NTSB Notification Date Aug 4 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 100
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 27 2005 3:52PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Seattle, WA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N79404
NTSB Number SEA04FA154
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 182P
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18261815
Certified Max Gross Weight 2950
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 30 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Rite Brothers Aviation, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1406 Fairchild International Airport
Aircraft Owner City Port Angeles
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98363
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 No
Departure Airport Code CLM
Departure City Port Angeles
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 2145
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code BFI
Destination City Seattle
Destination State WA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Climb
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 --
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --