Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ranger Station Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Enumclaw, Washington 98022
Saturday, July 2, 2011 16:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he was making an approach to an airstrip for a brief stop. He overflew the field and determined the wind was variable from the north and started his approach. On final approach he noticed an above average loss of altitude and speed due to a large mountain wave coming over the foothills to the west. He added power to compensate for the downdraft and continued on his landing approach. Once clear of some trees at the approach end of the runway he reduced the power to idle and was again pushed down by another downdraft. The pilot then added full power to arrest the airplane's descent but he did not have enough speed at that time to avoid a hard landing. The airplane slid off the runway and into a guard railing. The fuselage tubular frame sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported no mechanical problems that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed during an encounter with a mountain wave and downdraft landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/2/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Enumclaw |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98022 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 470047N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1213206W |
| Event Location Airport | Ranger Station |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 21W |
| 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 | 2650 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 1635 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 316 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RNT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2650 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 40 |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| 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) | 29.89 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | SA 02/07/2011 23:53-> METAR KRNT 022353Z 21009KT 1 |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28772 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 14 2011 11:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N23TT |
| NTSB Number | WPR11CA308 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-18 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-6684 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | Jan 21 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 4420 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JULIETT LIMITED |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SEATTLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98166 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | JULIETT LIMITED |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | SEATTLE |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98166 |
| 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 | 21W |
| Departure City | Enumclaw |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 21W |
| Destination City | Enumclaw |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 22 2011 5:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 33 |
| Runway Length | 2875 |
| Runway Width | 30 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |