Ellensburg Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Ellensburg, Washington 98926
Sunday, July 29, 2012 9:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot stated that he made a wheel landing on runway 7. As he pulled back on the elevator to lower the tail, the tail came up, and he lost control of the airplane. The airplane veered left, then turned sideways to the direction of travel, and stopped suddenly causing the right wing to contact the ground. No preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures were found that would have precluded normal operation.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot’s loss of directional control during the landing roll.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/29/2012
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 900
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Ellensburg
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98926
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 470159N
Event Location Longitude 1203150W
Event Location Airport Ellensburg
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KELN
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 Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 853 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KELN
Elevation of weather observation facility 1764
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
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) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.08
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 30239
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 24 2012 6:11PM
User who most recently changed record snyg
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4089A
NTSB Number WPR12CA333
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 CESSNA
Aircraft Model 170A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18794
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats 1
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats 4
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 24 2012 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 3865
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name PENSULA DAN
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City CLE ELUM
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98922-0731
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name PENSULA DAN
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City CLE ELUM
Operator State WA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 98922-0731
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code 2W1
Departure City Cle Elum
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 830
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code KELN
Destination City Ellensburg
Destination State WA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 24 2012 5:29PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 07
Runway Length 5590
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --