Ranger Creek Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Greenwater, Washington 98022
Saturday, October 1, 2005 19:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot said that soon after departure from runway 33, he inadvertently entered a fog "bank." He said that he attempted a climbing right turn to return to the clear air over the departure runway. He said that his airspeed dropped, and the aircraft stalled subsequently impacting trees and descended vertically to the mountain side. The airplane came to rest inverted bending and wrinkling both wings and the fuselage.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadvertently flying into IMC weather conditions, his failure to maintain sufficient airspeed for flight, and his subsequent inadvertent stall/mush into trees. Contributing factors were the fog and the trees.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/1/2005
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1900
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Greenwater
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98022
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 470115N
Event Location Longitude 1213130W
Event Location Airport Ranger Creek Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 21W
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 2650
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1847 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 20
Weather Observation Facility ID SMP
Elevation of weather observation facility 3955
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 11
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Dusk
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1600
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 4
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
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) 29.8
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
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 --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 19070
NTSB Notification Source FAA NW ROC
NTSB Notification Date Oct 2 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 31 2006 7:35AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Seattle, WA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4175U
NTSB Number SEA06CA001
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 150D
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15060175
Certified Max Gross Weight 1600
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 10330
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Thomas A. Werth
Aircraft Owner Street Address 12432 Des Moines Way S.
Aircraft Owner City Seattle
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98168
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code 21W
Departure City Greenwater
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1700
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code 1SO
Destination City Puyallup
Destination State WA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - initial climb
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 24 2005 4:23PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 33
Runway Length 2875
Runway Width 30
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --