Lake Wenatchee State Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Leavenworth, Washington 98826
Sunday, August 19, 2007 16:30 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While taking off uphill on a short turf runway towards rising terrain, the airplane impacted trees 70 feet in height off the departure end of the runway. The runway surface was turf, in poor condition and rough, and 2,473 feet in length. Trees surrounded the airport and they were in close proximity to the runway's approach and departure ends. According to Cessna Aircraft, the performance charts in the information manual for the airplane show that 2,100 feet was needed to clear a 50-foot obstacle. The pilot said he estimated that he needed 2,000 feet of takeoff distance to clear a 50-foot obstacle. An FAA inspector examined the airplane and noted no mechanical difficulties that would have precluded normal operation.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate clearance from the trees.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/19/2007
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1630
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Leavenworth
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98826
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 474910N
Event Location Longitude 1204311W
Event Location Airport Lake Wenatchee State Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 27W
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 1939
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1655 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 140
Weather Observation Facility ID EAT
Elevation of weather observation facility 1249
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 33
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 10000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
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) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 310
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 60
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 2
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 22523
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 19 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 29 2007 8:02AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-SFF-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5967A
NTSB Number LAX07CA254
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 --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 172
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17228567
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
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 Sean Walter
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Vancouver
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98661
Operator is an individual? Yes
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 27W
Departure City Leavenworth
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1630
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code 1W1
Destination City Camas
Destination State WA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 26 2007 1:35PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27
Runway Length 2473
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --