Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Lake Chelan Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lake Chelan, Washington 98816
Tuesady, September 23, 2008 11:10 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had transported the float-equipped weight-shift amateur-built airplane to the training facility for assistance in having it certified, as well as to receive flight instruction in the airplane. When the flight instructor informed the pilot that his flight training would be postponed for about two weeks, the pilot agreed to wait. The flight instructor cautioned the pilot not to attempt to fly the airplane until he had received adequate training, to which the pilot agreed. Subsequently, the pilot elected to fly the airplane without having received any flight instruction. During the takeoff, witnesses reported observing the airplane climb rapidly, followed by a left wing low, steep nose down attitude prior to impacting the ground with its left wing, consistent with a stall/spin. According to the flight instructor, the airplane's 19-meter wing, known for its lifting capacity, most probably caused the inexperienced pilot to think that he was airborne, when the airplane was only light on its wheels, resulting in the pilot pushing out on the control bar thinking he would climb out. However, not having enough airspeed to sustain flight, the wing stalled. No pre-impact anomalies were reported with the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed during the initial climb, which resulted in an inadvertent aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of experience in the float-equipped, weight-shift airplane.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/23/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1110 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lake 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 | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1263 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1055 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 195 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EAT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1249 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| 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) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.25 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25255 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 29 2009 11:18AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N440LS |
| NTSB Number | SEA08LA207 |
| 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 | Simpson |
| Aircraft Model | Amphibious Trike |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | H20041 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1200 |
| Aircraft Category | -- |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 6 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 10 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Laurence R Simpson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Midvale |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84047 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Laurence R Simpson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Midvale |
| Operator State | UT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 84047 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | S10 |
| Departure City | Chelan |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | S10 |
| Destination City | Lake Chelan |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 23 2009 5:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 20 |
| Runway Length | 3503 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |