20110508008259I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Richmond Jim R Carbon CUB EX · Orondo, WA · May 8, 2011

Date: May 8, 2011 · 13:15 local
Place: Orondo, WA
Airport: Ross (Pvt)
Phase of flight: Cruise/Level Flight
Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage: Minor damage
Aircraft: N784FB
Reported as: Richmond Jim R Carbon CUB EX
Reported engine: Amateur-built UNKNOWN ENG
People aboard: 1
Fatal injuries: 0
Other injuries: 0
Pilot’s certificate: Private pilot
Pilot’s flight hours: 1,222 total220 in this make and model27 in the last 90 days

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Pilot took-off from a private airstrip. Just as he was retarding throttle transistioning to cruise the aircrft began to shake. The shake got quickly worse and the pilot retarded the throttle further and attempted to return to the airstrip. When the pilot saw he could not make the strip he attempted to add throttle but the vibration got worse. The pilot retarded the throttle and looked for the best place to land. Due to terrain and trees he decided to land in the columbia river. The aircraft landed in the river approximately 100 yards from shore with no injury to the solo pilot. A passing boat that saw the landing pulled the pilot from the river and helped pull it to shore.

As the FAA filed it

PILOT TOOK-OFF FROM A PRIVATE AIRSTRIP. JUST AS HE WAS RETARDING THROTTLE TRANSISTIONING TO CRUISE THE AIRCRFT BEGAN TO SHAKE. THE SHAKE GOT QUICKLY WORSE AND THE PILOT RETARDED THE THROTTLE FURTHER AND ATTEMPTED TO RETURN TO THE AIRSTRIP. WHEN THE PILOT SAW HE COULD NOT MAKE THE STRIP HE ATTEMPTED TO ADD THROTTLE BUT THE VIBRATION GOT WORSE. THE PILOT RETARDED THE THROTTLE AND LOOKED FOR THE BEST PLACE TO LAND. DUE TO TERRAIN AND TREES HE DECIDED TO LAND IN THE COLUMBIA RIVER. THE AIRCRAFT LANDED IN THE RIVER APPROXIMATELY 100 YARDS FROM SHORE WITH NO INJURY TO THE SOLO PILOT. A PASSING BOAT THAT SAW THE LANDING PULLED THE PILOT FROM THE RIVER AND HELPED PULL IT TO SHORE.