- Date
- April 12, 2014, 10:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Kent, OR
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N1394YPiper PA 18-135
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 18, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20140412005399A
- Case key
- 89047
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 aircraft control during takeoff.
Findings · 4
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 of the tailwheel-equipped airplane had spent the morning practicing hilltop landings with a second airplane, as a flight of two. The hilltop where the accident occurred was the third landing location. The landing was uphill and uneventful, and after coming to a stop he parked the airplane, exited, and went for a hike. After returning, the first airplane departed downhill successfully, with the accident airplane in trail. The pilot reported that once airborne, the airplane drifted left, and did not respond fully to his control inputs. He further stated that a slight upslope air movement was present, and that the slipstream from the propeller of the leading airplane may have contributed to the loss of control. The left wingtip struck a tree and the airplane tumbled. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and the forward cabin during the accident sequence.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane had spent the morning practicing hilltop landings with a second airplane, as a flight of two. The hilltop where the accident occurred was the third landing location. The landing was uphill and uneventful, and after coming to a stop he parked the airplane, exited, and went for a hike. After returning, the first airplane departed downhill successfully, with the accident airplane in trail. The pilot reported that once airborne, the airplane drifted left, and did not respond fully to his control inputs. He further stated that a slight upslope air movement was present, and that the slipstream from the propeller of the leading airplane may have contributed to the loss of control. The left wingtip struck a tree and the airplane tumbled. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and the forward cabin during the accident sequence.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1394Y
- Reported as
- Piper PA 18-135
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-3357
- Built
- 1953
- Airframe hours
- 3,746.1
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-C4P, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 1, 2013 · 13.3 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Chukar Flats, OR
- Destination
- NONE · Kent, OR
- Airport
- NONE · Unimproved Landing Site
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
- 56
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificates
- Private, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 25, 2012
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 2,028 total · 187 in this make and model · 16,677 as pilot in command · 34.7 in the last 90 days · 11.8 in the last 30 days · 12.1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 16 knots, gusting 19
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 41 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
- Observed at
- KDLS, 42 nm away
Docket · 7
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 4, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.7 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.