Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Seattle, Washington 98115
Friday, August 5, 2005 9:45 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he had fueled the aircraft the day before with enough fuel for the two hour flight plus a one hour fuel reserve. The pilot reported that the en route portion of the flight was uneventful and a descent from 9,500 feet was initiated to 1,800 feet over the northeast side of Lake Washington, when the pilot had his first indication that something was wrong with the engine. The pilot stated that, "There were no sudden sounds; no choking or coughing of the engine. Rather it sounded as though someone had pulled the throttle all the way back - the normal sound (although I was at reduced power descending) just smoothly diminished to an idle sound over the course of about 1 second." The pilot made a turn to look for a landing spot and reported to air traffic that he was having problems. Not seeing a suitable landing spot, the pilot opted to head toward Sand Point, an area located along the west shoreline of the lake, in hopes to reach an open field. During the descent, the pilot switched the fuel selector from "both" to the left fuel tank and then to the right fuel tank. The engine did not start and the pilot focused his attention on the emergency landing. The aircraft was unable to reach Sand Point, therefore, the pilot maneuvered for a ditching parallel to the shoreline. The aircraft collided with the water, remaining upright. All three occupants were able to egress from the aircraft uninjured, before it sank. A nearby motorboat operator rescued the occupants within minutes of the accident. After the aircraft was recovered and the engine was dried out, the engine underwent an engine run. The engine started up the first time and ran at idle power for several minutes with no anomalies noted.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/5/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 945 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Seattle |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98115 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 474000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1221400W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 176 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BFI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 18 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| 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) | 30.11 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18672 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA- Terry Stoddard |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 5 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| 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, Washington |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4867C |
| NTSB Number | SEA05LA161 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | A185F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18502635 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3300 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 72 |
| Airframe Hours | 5975 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Alexander E. Wells |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bend |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97701 |
| 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 | 66S |
| Departure City | Coolin |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 740 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BFI |
| Destination City | Seattle |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 12 2005 12:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |