- Date
- October 16, 2010, 12:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Colville, WA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N169WPDeitz Avid Flyer MK4
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 16, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20101016049159A
- Case key
- 77605
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 compensate for a wind gust and maintain runway alignment during final approach to land, which resulted in an in-flight collision with a tree.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot stated that he was landing the airplane on a turf airstrip at a private airport with a crosswind of about 7 to 12 knots. During the landing approach, about 20 feet above the airstrip, the airplane encountered a gust of wind. As a result, the airplane drifted to the edge of runway and the right wing impacted a tree. The airplane subsequently descended to the ground and came to rest with the right wing no longer attached to the fuselage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot was landing the airplane to the east at a private airport. The turf runway was 2,600 feet long and 75 feet wide. The pilot indicated that the wind was from the north, and during the landing approach, the airplane encountered a gust that blew the airplane to the southern edge of the runway. The right wing then impacted a tree and the airplane collided with the ground. The pilot had 126 hours total time, and 3 hours in the accident airplane make and model. No mechanical anomalies were reported.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N169WP
- Reported as
- Deitz Avid Flyer MK4
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1262-D
- Engine
- Subaru E-81, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Harrell Hartman
- Registered owner
- Harrell Hartman
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Departed
- WA72 · Colville, WA
- Destination
- WA72 · Colville, WA
- Airport
- WA72 · Zema Private Airport, runway 07, 2,600 × 75 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
- 61
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Sport Pilot
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Last flight review
- November 2, 2009
- Flight hours
- 126 total · 3 in this make and model · 17 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 23 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- DEW, 45 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 5, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.2 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.