Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mears Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Concrete, Washington 98237
Saturday, February 11, 2012 17:20 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that while flying, he observed injured snowmobilers waving for help. After radioing for assistance, the pilot gathered emergency supplies from within the airplane and prepared to air-drop the supplies to the snowmobilers and configured the airplane for a slow approach over their location. After a successful drop, he applied full power and banked left to avoid terrain. The airplane encountered a downdraft and started to descend with the left wing low. Despite the pilot’s control inputs, the airplane continued to lose altitude until it impacted the glacier below. The airplane’s firewall and both wings were substantially damaged. The pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot did not attain and maintain sufficient altitude to clear terrain while maneuvering.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/11/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1720 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Concrete |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98237 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 484532N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1215001W |
| Event Location Airport | Mears Field Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 3W5 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 13 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 267 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 94 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BLI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 170 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 27 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3900 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.11 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KBLI 112353Z 18010KT 10SM FEW039 SCT046 BKN0 |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29718 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 19 2012 9:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1155C |
| NTSB Number | WPR12CA102 |
| 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-18-135 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-2457 |
| 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 | Jun 1 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | 3696 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | 208 CORP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SEATTLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98119-3422 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Kyle Martin |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | BELLINGHAM |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98229 |
| 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 | WA90 |
| Departure City | Sudden Valley |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | WA90 |
| Destination City | Sudden Valley |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 21 2012 5:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |