Pierce County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Puyallup, Washington 98395
Tuesady, August 12, 2008 10:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was just turning onto the downwind leg when the airplane's engine suddenly lost power without warning. The pilot was unable to get the engine to restart and he selected what looked like a level field of tall grass for his emergency forced landing. Just after touching down in the field, the airplane hit a number of tree stumps that had been hidden by the tall grass. The impact sequence resulted in extensive damage to the fuselage, wings, and landing gear. A post-accident inspection of the engine, fuel system, and air induction system determined that the fuel tanks were nearly full, and that there were no apparent anomalies that would have contributed to a loss of engine power.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The complete loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. Contributing to the accident were hidden obstructions (tree stumps) in the field of long grass within which the pilot executed his forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/12/2008
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1000
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Puyallup
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98395
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 470614N
Event Location Longitude 1221714W
Event Location Airport Pierce County Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KPLU
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
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 --
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) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
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 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) 24283
NTSB Notification Source FAA ROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 26 2008 6:40PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N14JA
NTSB Number SEA08CA177
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 Anglin
Aircraft Model RV-6
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 20629
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Conditional
Date of Last Inspection May 1 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 765
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Joseph L. Hoskins, Jr.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Puyallup
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
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 KPLU
Departure City Puyallup
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code KPLU
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 8 2008 1:19PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --