Lake Wenatchee State Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Leavenworth, Washington 98826
Sunday, July 20, 2008 12:05 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane gained speed slowly and halfway down the runway lifted off in ground effect. The pilot noted the airspeed was about 50 knots. When the pilot realized that the airplane was not going to clear obstacles at the end of the runway, she aborted the takeoff and decided to land the airplane on the remaining runway. The airplane overran the end of the runway, traveled downhill, struck a pile of wood, nosed over and came to rest inverted. The pilot had configured the airplane for a short field takeoff with 10 degrees of flaps. The pilot had been to the airport before and had taken summer mountain flying courses. She stated that she over estimated the capabilities of the airplane under the existing altitude, runway conditions, and height of the trees at the end of the runway. The airport elevation was 1,939 feet. The closest weather reporting station indicated that the temperature was 28 degrees Celsius, and the density altitude was calculated to be 3,186 feet.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate preflight planning and failure to attain a sufficient airspeed to continue the takeoff. A contributing factor was the high density altitude and short runway.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/20/2008
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1205
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Leavenworth
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98826
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 474909N
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 1155 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 150
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 --
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) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.88
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 24458
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 20 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 21 2008 4:39PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Federal Aviation Administration

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N80849
NTSB Number LAX08CA234
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 172M
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17266772
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 1 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 9566
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Joyce L. Rust
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Chehalis
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98532
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Joyce L. Rust
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Chehalis
Operator State WA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 98532
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) 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 1205
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code BVS
Destination City Burlington
Destination State WA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - aborted
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 21 2008 4:38PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27
Runway Length 2473
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --