- Date
- April 10, 2004, 11:45 local (18:45 UTC)
- Place
- Friday Harbor, WA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N14026Yakovlev Yak 54
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA-FSDO
- FAA report
- 20040410005949A
- Case key
- 59032
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to properly align with the runway. Factors include rough/uneven terrain, inadequate preflight planning and diminished forward visibility.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
In a written statement the pilot reported that the purpose of the flight was to practice aerobatics in the local area. He reported that shortly after rolling the airplane inverted, to accomplish a "belt check", oil appeared on the airplane's windscreen and canopy. The oil on the windscreen impaired the pilot's vision and he elected to return to the departure airport and land. He stated that the airplane touched down on the left edge of the runway, encountered rough/uneven terrain and the nose gear collapsed. The pilot stated that he had not tightened the engine oil cap prior to departure. The oil cap was later found laying on the ground in the run-up area of the airstrip.
Factual narrative
On April 10, 2004, at 1145 Pacific daylight time, a Yakovlev Yak-54, N14026, sustained substantial damage during landing at a private airstrip near Friday Harbor, Washington. The airplane is owned by the pilot, and was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The commercial pilot was not injured in the accident. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the local aerobatic flight.
In a written statement dated April 16, 2004, the pilot reported that the purpose of the flight was to practice aerobatics in the local area. He reported that shortly after rolling the airplane inverted, to accomplish a "belt check", oil appeared on the airplane's windscreen and canopy. The oil on the windscreen impaired the pilot's vision and he elected to return to the departure airport and land. He stated that the airplane touched down on the left edge of the runway, encountered rough/uneven terrain and the nose gear collapsed.
The pilot stated that he did not secure the engine oil cap prior to departure.
The oil cap was later found laying on the ground in the run-up area of the airstrip.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N14026
- Reported as
- Yakovlev Yak 54
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 04002
- Engine
- Vendeneyev M14PX, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Todd L. Roberts
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- Friday Harbor, WA
- Destination
- Friday Harbor, WA
- Airport
- runway 34
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 46
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 1,478 total · 26 in this make and model · 33 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.