Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Windsock Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lopez, Washington 98261
Saturday, July 16, 2011 18:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On July 16, 2011, at 1830 Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-24-250, N5532P, experienced a loss of engine power during cruise flight. The pilot subsequently made a forced landing to a private grass strip near Lopez, Washington. The owner/pilot operated the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal cross-country flight. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. During the landing roll, the left wing was substantially damaged when it struck a fence post. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that departed Roche Harbor Airport (WA09), Roche Harbor, Washington, at 1815. The flight was destined for Frontier Airpark (WN53), Lake Stevens, Washington. No flight plan had been filed.
The pilot reported that the airplane was in cruise flight about 2,000 feet near Spencer Island. He heard a loud bang, felt an extreme vibration, had smoke in the cockpit, and oil covered the windshield. He reduced engine power to idle, opened the side vent window, and was able to regain visibility. He chose the closest landing strip, and landed the airplane. On the landing roll out, the pilot stated that the grass strip was shorter than what he would need to bring the airplane to a stop and the runway surface was wet. He intentionally placed the airplane in a "ground slide" and prior to coming to a stop, the left wing struck a fence post.
During the postaccident inspection of the engine, the pilot observed a crack in the engine block near the rear cylinder on the pilot's side.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/16/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1830 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lopez |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98261 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 483229N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1225314W |
| Event Location Airport | Windsock Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 4WA4 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 30 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1836 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 80 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FHR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 113 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2800 |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.81 |
| 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) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AMN Operation Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 12 2011 4:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | 5532P |
| NTSB Number | WPR11LA340 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-24-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-596 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 15 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 35 |
| Airframe Hours | 6200 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PERSON TIM I |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAKE STEVENS |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98258-8302 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | PERSON TIM I |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | LAKE STEVENS |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98258-8302 |
| 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 | WA09 |
| Departure City | Roche Harbor |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1815 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | WN53 |
| Destination City | Lake Stevens |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 12 2011 4:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 20 |
| Runway Length | 1850 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |