Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
West Yellowstone Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
West Yellowstone, Montana 59758
Thursday, August 1, 2013 7:20 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot and the pilot-rated passenger planned to conduct a personal flight in the tailwheel-equipped airplane. The pilot was in the rear seat, and the passenger was in the front seat. The passenger did not have a tailwheel endorsement, but he planned to follow the pilot on the controls during the takeoff for familiarization purposes. During the takeoff roll when the airplane was approaching liftoff speed, the airplane made a rapid veeroff to the left. At that point, the pilot abandoned the takeoff, and made the conscious decision not to attempt to return to the runway, instead allowing the airplane to roll and decelerate on the grass/gravel beside the runway. That decision was based on the pilot's desire to avoid any potentially hazardous maneuvering or a ground loop. During the rollout, due to the pilot's inability to see directly ahead, the airplane struck the VASI (visual approach slope indicator) installation located about 1,300 feet down the runway, and offset about 145 feet from the runway centerline. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing struts. The pilot stated that he did not believe that any mechanical malfunction or failure contributed to or caused the runway excursion, and that he could not rule out the possibility that he had inadvertently applied one wheel brake during the takeoff roll.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the takeoff roll, which resulted in a runway excursion and a collision with an approach slope indicator system component.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/1/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 720 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | West Yellowstone |
| Event State | MONTANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 59758 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 443118N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1110703W |
| Event Location Airport | West Yellowstone |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KWYS |
| 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 | 6649 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1310 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KWYS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6649 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.21 |
| 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) | 31712 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA 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 | Aug 22 2013 4:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N926BW |
| NTSB Number | WPR13CA362 |
| 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 | BELLANCA |
| Aircraft Model | 7GCBC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 770-74 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1650 |
| 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 | Mar 1 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3092 |
| Airframe Hours | 3092 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John P Lesnik |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Dillon |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59725 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | John P Lesnik |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Dillon |
| Operator State | MT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 59725 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KWYS |
| Departure City | West Yellowstone |
| Departure State | MT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 720 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KWYS |
| Destination City | West Yellowstone |
| Destination State | MT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 22 2013 4:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 19 |
| Runway Length | 8400 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |