- Date
- June 25, 1985, 14:05 local (21:05 UTC)
- Place
- Bellevue, WA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N16688Piper PA-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850625055149A
- Case key
- 40184
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
The plt reported that during the pre-flt check, she neglected to untie the rear seat belt from the aft control stick. Standard procedure for taxi & takeoff in this float plane was to keep the stick full aft. Since the acft was low on fuel & was taking off in a headwind, it lifted off early. At that time, the plt 'tried to move the stick forward and found it locked.' She retarded the power at about 50 ft above the water. The acft then nosed down & hit the water. The plt was wearing a special safety harness & was not injured. She stated that her preflt was too casual. She recommended being methodical & using a check list.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N16688
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18875
- Airframe hours
- 7,765
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290-D, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- William H. Cook, Jr.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 18, 1985
- Destination
- Whidbey Island, WA
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
- 62
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 445 total · 132 in this make and model · 346 as pilot in command · 27 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 305° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.