Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Floathaven Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bellingham, Washington 98229
Tuesady, June 3, 2014 9:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The owner-pilot departed his home airport for a personal flight to another airstrip where he had previously operated many times. Since the turf runway had a significant slope and was bordered by trees on three sides, landings were conducted in the uphill direction, which was to the southeast. The narrowness of the runway, coupled with the proximity of trees to the runway edges, necessitated that pilots taxi uphill to the southeast end, in order to turn around and exit the runway at the northwest end. The pilot overflew the runway to check for deer and other obstacles, and made a left-hand circling approach for the landing to the southeast. There was a slight left crosswind during the approach, but no wind at all on the runway because of the tall trees. Touchdown at the intended landing point, which was about 150 feet beyond the approach end was normal. After landing, the pilot added power to taxi uphill to turn around. However, about 400 feet beyond the touchdown point, the airplane began to drift to the right. The pilot was unable to correct that drift before the right wingtip struck a small tree, which resulted in a sharp right turn. The airplane veered off the right side of the runway, which was a downsloped, wooded area. The airplane was stopped by a large tree, and came to rest approximately perpendicular to the runway, with the tail approximately at the runway edge. The airplane sustained substantial damage to its wings. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing on a narrow airstrip, which resulted in a collision with trees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/3/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 930 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Bellingham |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98229 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 484359N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1222104E |
| Event Location Airport | Floathaven |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | WA90 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 325 |
| 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 | 1500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| 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) | 30.1 |
| 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) | 32864 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA WPR ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 19 2014 6:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1205P |
| NTSB Number | WPR14CA223 |
| 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 | J3C 65 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 65 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17630 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1220 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | HUBNER JOHN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1525 CHUCKANUT RIDGE DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | BOW |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 982328573 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | HUBNER JOHN |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 1525 CHUCKANUT RIDGE DR |
| Operator City | BOW |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 982328573 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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 | BVS |
| Departure City | Burlington |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | WA90 |
| Destination City | Bellingham |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 19 2014 6:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 00 |
| Runway Length | 1200 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |