- Date
- September 21, 1992, 11:06 local (18:06 UTC)
- Place
- Blakely Island, WA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N144PTBeech A36
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 31, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920921037879A
- Case key
- 42906
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 removal of the control gust lock was not performed. Factors to the accident were: inadequate preflight, the checklist was not used, and the control gust lock marking flag was gone due to previous damage.
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
At the beginning of the flight, during the takeoff ground run, the pilot realized that he had not removed the airplane's control gust lock. The pilot was unable to stop the airplane before it travelled off the end of the runway, collided with a fence and came to rest partially submerged in the bay north of the airstrip. The pilot reported that the airplane was normally kept in a hangar and that the gust lock was not used. The day before the accident, another pilot had flown the airplane and left it outside the hangar, and had installed the gust lock. The lock that was used was just the pin, as the red caution flag had previously broken off. The pilot did not see that the pin was installed during the preflight inspection. The pilot also reported that he did not use a checklist and at no time during the preflight inspection did he check for freedom of movement of the flight controls.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N144PT
- Reported as
- Beech A36
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- E-200
- Airframe hours
- 3,777
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-BA6, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Ferry · Part 91
- Operator
- P.J. Taggares Company
- Registered owner
- P.J. Taggares Company
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 20, 1992 · 75 hours before
- Departed
- S08
- Destination
- 6WA4 · Othello, WA
- Airport
- S08 · Blakely Island, runway 1, 2,000 × ft, asphalt
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
- 43
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 11,420 total · 150 in this make and model · 11,162 as pilot in command · 250 in the last 90 days · 75 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FHR, 7 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.