Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pullman, Washington 99163
Saturday, January 30, 2010 10:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Due to the cold temperatures on the morning of the flight, the pilot followed the “Cold Weather Engine Operation” procedures in the Ag-Cat pilot handbook. Because those procedures called for the engine oil and cylinder head temperatures to reach a minimum level before takeoff, the pilot had run the engine on the ground for about 30 minutes prior to performing the pre-takeoff run-up check. During that check he exercised the carburetor heat system, which worked as prescribed. During the long run-up, a bird’s nest became dislodged and was sucked into the area near the carburetor inlet screen during the carburetor heat test. The condition of the nest remains indicated that during the increased volume and velocity air flow during takeoff, the nest partially disintegrated and ultimately covered a significant portion of the inlet screen surface. According to the Federal Aviation Administration inspector who monitored the engine inspection, the nest was located inside the warm air pick-up ducting, which is an area that the pilot would not normally see into or check unless there was external visual evidence to indicate the need for a further inspection.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A partial loss of engine power during takeoff due to a bird's nest being sucked into the induction air ducting.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/30/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Pullman |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99163 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 464426N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1170612W |
| Event Location Airport | Pullman-Moscow Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KPUW |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| 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 | 12000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 5 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| 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 | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26757 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA 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 | May 26 2010 11:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | guzj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6799K |
| NTSB Number | WPR10LA122 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | GRUMMAN ACFT ENG COR-SCHWEIZER |
| Aircraft Model | G-164B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 493 B |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 30 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 10712 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Pleasant Valley Aviation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | American Falls |
| Aircraft Owner State | ID |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83211 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Pleasant Valley Aviation |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | American Falls |
| Operator State | ID |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 83211 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| 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) | Ferry |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KPUW |
| Departure City | Pullman |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KPUW |
| Destination City | Pullman |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 31 2010 4:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |