Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Royal Flying Service Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Royal City, Washington 99357
Thursday, May 24, 2012 8:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During an aerial application pass, the pilot mistakenly descended the airplane too early and struck a pipe on a center pivot irrigation system. As a result, the left main landing gear sustained damage, and the pilot flew the airplane back to the airport to land. The pilot stated that the airplane ground looped upon touchdown due to the damaged landing gear. The airplane's left wing was damaged during the ground loop. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane prior to striking the object.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate clearance from an object during an aerial application, which resulted in damage to the landing gear and led to the airplane ground looping during the subsequent landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/24/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 830 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Royal City |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99357 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 465324N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1193602W |
| Event Location Airport | Royal Flying Service |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 8WA |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| 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) | 29976 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 8 2012 5:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8468V |
| NTSB Number | WPR12CA229 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL |
| Aircraft Model | S-2R |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2228R |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ROYAL FLYING SERVICE INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 99 |
| Aircraft Owner City | ROYAL CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99357-0099 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | ROYAL FLYING SERVICE INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 99 |
| Operator City | ROYAL CITY |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99357-0099 |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 8WA |
| Departure City | Royal City |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 810 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 8WA |
| Destination City | Royal City |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 8 2012 5:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 2500 |
| Runway Width | 24 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |