Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
The Citadel Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Terrebonne, Oregon 97760
Wednesday, August 29, 2012 21:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private pilot was attempting to land his airplane at night on the unlighted, unpaved private airstrip where he based the airplane. The airstrip was situated in a rural area, about 5 miles from the nearest town atop a ridge that rose about 300 feet above the surrounding terrain. According to the pilot, during his final approach to the airstrip, he encountered a downdraft, and the airplane impacted the southwest side of the ridge. According to information provided by first responders, the airplane struck a tree and then terrain, and came to rest after a very short distance. The right wing was crushed and displaced aft, and the fuselage also sustained substantial damage. The pilot extracted himself from the wreckage and used his cellular telephone to summon assistance. Hospital medical personnel interviews indicated that the pilot appeared intoxicated and admitted to using methadone and morphine on a daily basis, and blood tests of the pilot conducted at least 3 hours after the accident revealed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.246 grams/deciliter. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations prohibit operation of an airplane by persons with blood alcohol concentrations of 0.040 grams/deciliter or greater. The pilot did not hold a valid FAA medical certificate. He also stated that the airplane did not have any mechanical deficiencies or failures before the impact.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's physical impairment, which adversely affected his ability to properly operate the airplane.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/29/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2100 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Terrebonne |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97760 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 441952N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1212210W |
| Event Location Airport | The Citadel |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 61OR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 3077 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2056 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KRDM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3077 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| 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) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 30598 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NWM ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 3 2012 10:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | reej |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4849E |
| NTSB Number | WPR12CA376 |
| 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 | CHAMPION |
| Aircraft Model | 7FC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 300 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1450 |
| 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 | Sep 29 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4626 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | David Heller |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Salem |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97305 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | David Heller |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Salem |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 97305 |
| 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 | 61OR |
| Departure City | Terrebonne |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1845 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 61OR |
| Destination City | Terrebonne |
| Destination State | OR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 26 2012 10:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | reej |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25 |
| Runway Length | 1800 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |