- Date
- June 20, 1997, 16:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- East Wenatchee, WA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N9017Corben Junior ACE
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 10, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970620047909A
- Case key
- 42640
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 dual student's improper attempt to abort the takeoff and the flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight.
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
During takeoff from a grass strip on an instructional flight, the commercially-rated student closed the throttle. The instructor felt it was too late to stop safety so he applied full throttle and told the student to complete the takeoff. The airplane veered to the right but became airborne past the end of the runway, then stalled and collided with the ground.
Factual narrative
On June 20, 1997, about 1630 Pacific daylight time, N9017, a homebuilt Corben Junior Ace impacted terrain during take off from Pangborn Memorial airport, East Wenatchee, Washington. Visual conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed. The aircraft received substantial damage but neither the instructor or the student received any injuries. The flight was departing the airport for a local instructional flight. The student, who was a commercial pilot, was receiving instruction in the aircraft in order to receive a tail wheel endorsement.
According to the flight instructors statement, they were taking off from a grass runway. As the airplane was breaking ground, the student closed the throttle. The instructor felt it was too late in the take off to stop safely so he applied full throttle and told the student to complete the take off. The airplane veered to the right but became airborne past the end of the runway. The aircraft stalled, out of ground effect, and collided with the ground.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9017
- Reported as
- Corben Junior ACE
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 797-65-20
- Airframe hours
- 411
- Engine
- Continental 65-8F, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Bovee, Timothy L.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 16, 1997 · 2 hours before
- Departed
- EAT
- Airport
- EAT · Pangborn Memorial, runway 7, 1,200 × 50 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
- 49
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 7,850 total · 3 in this make and model · 7,350 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 11,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 41 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KEA, 1 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.