- Date
- March 9, 1994, 16:25 local (Mar 10, 1994, 00:25 UTC)
- Place
- Snohomish, WA
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N4696Kelley Stits SA6B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 2, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940309004309A
- Case key
- 41892
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 maintain adequate airspeed. Factors include a pole off the departure end of the runway.
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
After landing long and fast, the pilot elected to initiate a go- around. During the go-around, he allowed the airspeed to get too low, and the aircraft stalled/mushed into a pole that was off the departure end of the runway.
Factual narrative
On March 9, 1994, approximately 1625 Pacific standard time (PST), a Kelley Stits SA6B, N4696, collided with a pole, off the departure end of the runway, during an attempted go-around at Harvey Field, Snohomish, Washington. The commercial pilot received minor injuries, his passenger was not injured, and the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The personal pleasure flight, which departed the same location about 25 minutes earlier, was in visual meteorological conditions at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT activation.
According to the passenger, the pilot landed a little long and fast, allowed the aircraft to bounce, and then elected to initiate a go-around. While trying to climb over power lines just off the end of the runway, the pilot allowed his airspeed to get too low, and the aircraft stalled/mushed into a nearby pole.
The pilot, who voluntarily surrendered his certificate to the FAA, failed to return the NTSB Form 6120.1/2 that was provided to him after the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4696
- Reported as
- Kelley Stits SA6B
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 2186
- Engine
- Continental, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Kelley, David L.
- Registered owner
- Kelley, James A.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Airport
- S43 · Harvey Field
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
- 60
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Seat
- Front
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 15,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 54 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.