Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Lake Wenatchee State Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Leavenworth, Washington 98826
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 10:15 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he made a short-field takeoff with an approximate 5 mile-per-hour headwind. Shortly after liftoff, he realized that, even with the best angle of climb speed, the airplane would have difficulty clearing trees at the end of the runway. The pilot continued the climbout and turned the airplane slightly to the right and the airplane collided with the top 10 feet of trees surrounding the airport. The pilot stated that, in retrospect, he might have taken off downwind to the east where there was more room, used a different airport, or maintained a faster airspeed. A witness noted that the turf field appeared to be bumpy and the takeoff roll was longer than he expected. He did not have the impression that the airplane had engine issues or entered into a stall after becoming airborne. The pilot also reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane at the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to adequately evaluate the airport and its environment in relation to the aircraft’s performance, which resulted in the airplane's failure to attain sufficient altitude to clear trees during the initial climb.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/18/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1015 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Leavenworth |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98826 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 474910N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1204311W |
| Event Location Airport | Lake Wenatchee State |
| 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 | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1939 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 955 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KEAT |
| 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) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.79 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28828 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Chelan County Sheriff |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 14 2011 9:12AM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2368H |
| NTSB Number | WPR10LA411 |
| 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 | ERCOUPE |
| Aircraft Model | 415 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2993 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Steven Lewis |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kirkland |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98033 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Steven Lewis |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Kirkland |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98033 |
| 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 | 1015 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | S50 |
| Destination City | Auburn |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 14 2011 9:10AM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 2473 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |