Lake Chelan Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Chelan, Washington 98816
Saturday, September 6, 2008 11:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The private pilot had stopped flying about 1970, resuming his flying again about 11 months prior to the accident. He received instruction in weight-shift aircraft with the goal of obtaining his sport pilot endorsement. On the day of the accident, the pilot received his solo endorsement from his instructor and made a 1-hour solo flight. After resting for about an hour, the pilot began his second solo flight. The accident occurred about 40 minutes into this flight. According to witnesses, the pilot performed several touch-and-go landings without incident. During the initial takeoff climb following another touch-and-go landing, the aircraft climbed at a "steep" angle, and at an altitude of about 100 to 200 feet above ground level, the aircraft rolled left, nosed down, spiraled and descended to ground impact. One witness stated that the engine remained at takeoff power throughout the entire event. An on-scene examination of the wreckage conducted by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector indicated the aircraft impacted in a near-vertical attitude. The examination revealed no evidence of any preimpact damage or discrepancies. An autopsy determined the pilot's cause of death was blunt force trauma, and the findings in the autopsy report did not include any notations of preexisting disease. The reason the pilot lost control of the aircraft could not be determined.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed during initial climb, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/6/2008
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1100
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Chelan
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98816
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 475158N
Event Location Longitude 1195634W
Event Location Airport Lake Chelan
Event Location Nearest Airport ID S10
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 1263
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Witness
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) --
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 --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 25485
NTSB Notification Source FAA ROC
NTSB Notification Date Sep 6 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 21 2009 4:10PM
User who most recently changed record broda
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Spokane, WA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N227EK
NTSB Number LAX08LA290
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 AIRBORNE
Aircraft Model XT-912
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number XT912206
Certified Max Gross Weight 1020
Aircraft Category --
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 Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Jan 28 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 35
Airframe Hours 35
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Dennis P Reed
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Cheney
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Charles E. WIley
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Gig Harbor
Operator State WA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code S10
Departure City Chelan
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1020
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code S10
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - initial climb
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 29 2009 5:07PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 02
Runway Length 3503
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --