- Date
- April 12, 1996, 19:30 local (Apr 13, 1996, 02:30 UTC)
- Place
- Spiden Island, WA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N171RJCessna 150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report February 28, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 42353
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
the pilot's selection of an unsuitable airstrip for the landing and subsequent takeoff, and his delay in aborting the takeoff, which resulted in an overrun and collision with an embankment and trees. Factors relating to the accident were: the short, wet, grassy, downhill airstrip conditions.
Analysis
The pilot stated that he had flown into the 1,500-foot grass airstrip earlier in the day with a flight instructor in a Cessna 185. After the landing, he and the instructor took off using 1/3 of the length of the airstrip. Later that day, the pilot rented a Cessna 150 and took a friend on a personal flight to the same airstrip. He stated that he landed the airplane uphill to the east without incident. He then turned around and began a takeoff roll downhill to the west on the wet grass airstrip. The pilot further stated that he aborted the takeoff 2/3 of the way down the strip because he believed he was not getting the necessary airspeed to rotate. He reduced the power and applied brakes, but was unable to stop the airplane before it impacted an embankment and trees on the opposite end of the airstrip. No mechanical malfunction was reported by the pilot. The pilot stated that the airstrip was 'too small' for the aircraft to take off and that he should not have landed there.
Factual narrative
On April 12, 1996, about 1930 hours Pacific daylight time, N171RJ, a Cessna 150, operated by Fountain Rental & Leasing, Inc., Bellingham, Washington, collided with trees during an aborted takeoff from an airstrip on Spiden Island, Washington, and was substantially damaged. The commercial pilot and his passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed. The personal flight was destined for Bellingham and was conducted under 14 CFR 91.
The pilot stated that he had flown into the 1,500-foot grass airstrip at Spiden Island earlier in the day with a flight instructor in a Cessna 185. After the landing, he and the instructor immediately took off. He stated: "With all the power of a [Cessna] 185 we flew right off the ground using only 1/3 of the strip."
Later that day, the pilot rented the Cessna 150 and took a friend on a personal flight to the same grass airstrip. He stated that he landed the airplane uphill to the east without incident. He then turned around and began a takeoff roll downhill to the west. The pilot further stated:
We got about 2/3 of the way down the strip and I was not getting the necessary airspeed to rotate. At that moment I made the decision to pull off the power and stomp on the brakes. The strip was grass and wet and down hill. We subsequently could not stop in time and sailed off the end of the strip which was an embankment that went down hill through the trees.
The airplane impacted trees and was substantially damaged. No mechanical malfunctions were reported by the pilot.
The pilot also stated that "the strip was too small for the aircraft to take off on [and I] shouldn't have landed there with the conditions present."
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N171RJ
- Reported as
- Cessna 150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15063038
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Fountain Rental/Leasing
- Registered owner
- Higginson, James
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Destination
- BLI · Bellingham, WA
- Airport
- Spiden Island, runway 27, 1,500 × 150 ft, grass/turf
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
- 28
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 503 total · 82 in this make and model · 349 as pilot in command · 65 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 180° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,700 ft broken
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PAE, 25 nm away