Evergreen Skyranch Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Auburn, Washington 98092
Sunday, September 12, 2004 18:10 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On the day after the aircraft sat out all night, in what was at times heavy rain, the pilot performed a preflight inspection prior to his departure for a local sightseeing flight. During that preflight he collected fuel from the left wing tank, and that sample revealed about one inch of water in the bottom of the nine inch long fuel sampler. He also found trace amounts of water in the right tank and center drain sump. Although he took a second sample from the left tank that did not show any more water contamination, he did not rock the wings to dislodge any trapped water prior to taking the second sample. Then after starting the engine, he taxied on the uneven undulating grass surface in order to get to the north end of the grass runway. During that taxi, the aircraft's wings rocked gently dislodging additional trapped water. The pilot then initiated his takeoff to the south, and although the aircraft initially accelerated as expected, about one-quarter way down the runway, the engine experienced a partial loss of power. At that point the pilot lowered the aircraft nose, but elected to continue the takeoff roll. After a few seconds the engine accelerated to near full power, and the pilot increased the pitch attitude in an attempt to get the aircraft to climb. But before the aircraft had traveled two-thirds of the way down the runway, the engine starting coughing and missing again, and the pilot aborted the takeoff at or very near the end of the runway. Because he had delayed the abort, he was unable to stop the aircraft prior to it departing the end of the runway, crossing over a paved road, going through a barbed wire fence, and impacting some brush and a parked utility trailer. A post-accident engine inspection and engine run found no evidence of any mechanical failure or malfunction.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to abort the takeoff early enough to allow him to stop the aircraft before it went off the departure end of the runway. Factors include the pilot's inadequate preflight procedures, water contamination in the fuel, a partial loss of power, and a utility trailer parked off the departure end of the runway.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/12/2004
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1810
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Auburn
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98092
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 471549N
Event Location Longitude 1220402W
Event Location Airport Evergreen Skyranch
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 51WA
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.5
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 580
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Witness
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 10000
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) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
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 Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 3
Injury Total All 4
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 18652
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Sep 12 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1830
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 27 2005 6:51AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Seattle FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N100EV
NTSB Number SEA04FA188
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 Beech
Aircraft Model A-36
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number E2834
Certified Max Gross Weight 3650
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Dec 1 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 51
Airframe Hours 1337
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Eagle River Aviation, LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Auburn
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98092
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Michael C. Muma
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Auburn
Operator State WA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 98092
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 51WA
Departure City Auburn
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1810
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 51WA
Destination City Auburn
Destination State WA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - aborted
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 29 2005 3:42PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 16
Runway Length 2600
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --