Arlington Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Arlington, Washington 98223
Saturday, March 31, 2007 19:05 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was in the process of aligning the aircraft to enter the downwind for landing when he decided that there were too many aircraft in the pattern and that he would maneuver to the west of the field until the number of aircraft practicing landings was reduced. As he turned away from the airport, he reduced his power to about 1,850 to 1,950 rpm (about 1,500 rpm below normal cruise), and then began to loiter to the west of the traffic pattern. Soon thereafter the aircraft's engine quit, and the pilot began looking for a place to make a forced landing. During the landing sequence, the pilot had to maneuver over some power lines, and just after he did so, the aircraft touched down on some soft terrain and flipped over onto its back. The pilot did not apply carburetor heat when the engine lost power, and because he had not listened to the Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS), he was unaware that at the time of the power loss there was only a one degree difference between the temperature and the dew point. According to the DOT/FAA/CT-82/44 Carburetor Icing Probability Chart, the pilot was operating in ambient conditions where serious carburetor icing could be expected at both glide and cruise power.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to apply carburetor heat when the engine lost power while being operated at a reduced power setting. Factors include carburetor icing condition, the pilot's failure to acquire the temperature/dew point information, and soft terrain in the field where the aircraft touched down.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/31/2007
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1905
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Arlington
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98223
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 481125N
Event Location Longitude 1221128W
Event Location Airport Arlington Municipal
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 2
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 137
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1855 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID KAWO
Elevation of weather observation facility 137
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 2
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 5000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 3200
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 5
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.07
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21923
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Mar 31 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 25 2007 12:22PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Seattle FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N601J
NTSB Number SEA07LA088
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 Johnson
Aircraft Model Zodiac CH601
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 6-1125
Certified Max Gross Weight 1050
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
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 --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Steven D MacNeill
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Everett
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98203
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 KAWO
Departure City Arlington
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1815
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code KAWO
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 12 2007 1:15PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --