Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Tieton State Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rimrock, Washington 98937
Saturday, September 20, 2014 15:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot and pilot-rated passenger of the tailwheel equipped airplane planned to stop at three back country strips before returning to their base airport. The pilot opted not to land at either of the first two planned stops, because she was uncomfortable with the winds at the time of her arrival at each. The third intended destination airport was situated at the shore of a lake. The turf runway was oriented approximately perpendicular to the shoreline, terminated at the shoreline, and was sloped uphill away from the lake. Tall trees and rapidly rising terrain at the other end of the runway resulted in the runway being effectively one way in and one way out, over the lake. The winds were light and variable, and the pilot landed uneventfully at that airstrip. She taxied to the far end, turned around, and began the takeoff roll downhill, towards the lake. She brought the tail up, continued the takeoff roll, and the airplane became prematurely airborne after "rolling over one of the bumpy spots" on the runway. The pilot reported that she tried to fly in ground effect to build airspeed, but lowered the nose too far. The propeller struck the runway, which degraded the airplane performance, and prevented the airplane from successfully climbing. The pilot determined that at that point, she was too far down the runway to safely abort the takeoff on the remaining runway, so she sought a spot straight ahead on the exposed lakebed on which to land the airplane. The pilot steered the airplane towards what appeared to be a dry area that was clear of debris. The airplane struck the dry upslope on the main wheels, and the left main gear impacted a tree stump. The airplane then nosed over to the inverted position. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. 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 aircraft control during takeoff from a rough runway surface which resulted in an off-airport forced landing just beyond the runway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/20/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rimrock |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98937 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 463815N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1210726W |
| Event Location Airport | Tieton State |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 4S6 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 200 |
| Airport Elevation | 2964 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 1500 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 84 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KYKM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| 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) | 33360 |
| 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 | Oct 30 2014 6:38PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N817DH |
| NTSB Number | WPR14CA383 |
| 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 | AMERICAN CHAMPION AIRCRAFT |
| Aircraft Model | 7GCBC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | NO SERIES |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1341-2003 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| 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 | May 9 2014 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 75 |
| Airframe Hours | 365 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C126 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Aileron Aviation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SEATTLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98118 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Rainier Flight Services |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Renton |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 4S6 |
| Departure City | Rimrock |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1530 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KRNT |
| Destination City | Renton |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 30 2014 6:38PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 20 |
| Runway Length | 2509 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |