Snohomish County Airport: Everett, Washington

Airport is located 6 miles south west of Everett.

The pilot taxied the ultralight airplane west between two rows of hangars up to the boundary of the non-movement area before stopping to contact ground control. At this time an Army Chinook helicopter made an approach to runway 34R before entering a hover over the runway in front of the pilot at an altitude estimated to be from 75 to 100 feet above ground level. As the helicopter descended to about 20 to 30 feet above ground level, the rotor wash from the helicopter picked the airplane up off the ground and blew it backwards and to the right. The airplane subsequently dropped to the ground on its right wingtip, coming to rest upright about 25 to 30 feet from where it was originally positioned.
= = =
= = =
The pilot started the airplane and began to taxi between two rows of hangars. As he approached the east-west taxiway at the end of the rows, he stopped to contact ground control and look at the windsock. After several minutes, ground control cleared him to taxi to runway 16L. He began to taxi toward the east-west taxiway, and was about to start making S-turns to look for obstacles. After traveling 40-60 feet, the propeller, right wing, and right landing gear contacted poles surrounding a fire hydrant. The right wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot noted that the airplane had conventional landing gear and he could not see the hydrant or surrounding poles over its nose. He also indicated that there was no taxi stripe from between the hangars to the east-west taxiway that would lead a pilot away from the poles.
= = =
= = =
The day before the accident, the pilot had asked his mechanic to prepare two other airplanes for flight to a fly-in the following morning. The accident airplane had not flown in a year, nor had there been any entries in the maintenance logbooks in the last four years; it did not have a current condition inspection recorded in the logbooks. The mechanic said that he had been in the process of installing an intake oil drain kit, which drains oil from the lower 3 cylinders from a common quick drain. The mechanic said that the project was not complete, but it had progressed to the point that he had put new oil in the engine. On the morning of the accident, the pilot had to move the airplane out from the back of the hangar and install the engine cowling before flight. He flew to the airport where the fly-in was being held and landed without incident. On his return flight, as he approached the airport, he radioed the tower controller and said that his engine
was running rough. Approximately two minutes later, he said that his engine had lost power, and he was going down. A witness on the ground said that he heard a loud bang and looked up to see blue-gray smoke coming from the airplane. Another witness said she saw the airplane making a low left turn, when it flipped inverted and spiraled to the ground. The airplane impacted in a residential area, approximately 15 feet behind a home. A post impact fire consumed the airplane. During an engine teardown, a cylinder was removed and significant heat distress was found on and around the main rod bearing. The main rod bearing was plastically deformed and broken; several connecting rods were bent and/or broken. Additionally, a heavy oil coating was found all along the bottom of the fuselage and most of the empennage was covered with oil. If the pilot had performed an adequate preflight before his return flight, it is likely that he would have noticed a significant
loss of engine oil.
= = =
= = =
The day before the accident, the pilot had asked his mechanic to prepare two other airplanes for flight to a fly-in the following morning. The accident airplane had not flown in a year, nor had there been any entries in the maintenance logbooks in the last four years; it did not have a current condition inspection recorded in the logbooks. The mechanic said that he had been in the process of installing an intake oil drain kit, which drains oil from the lower 3 cylinders from a common quick drain. The mechanic said that the project was not complete, but it had progressed to the point that he had put new oil in the engine. On the morning of the accident, the pilot had to move the airplane out from the back of the hangar and install the engine cowling before flight. He flew to the airport where the fly-in was being held and landed without incident. On his return flight, as he approached the airport, he radioed the tower controller and said that his engine
was running rough. Approximately two minutes later, he said that his engine had lost power, and he was going down. A witness on the ground said that he heard a loud bang and looked up to see blue-gray smoke coming from the airplane. Another witness said she saw the airplane making a low left turn, when it flipped inverted and spiraled to the ground. The airplane impacted in a residential area, approximately 15 feet behind a home. A post impact fire consumed the airplane. During an engine teardown, a cylinder was removed and significant heat distress was found on and around the main rod bearing. The main rod bearing was plastically deformed and broken; several connecting rods were bent and/or broken. Additionally, a heavy oil coating was found all along the bottom of the fuselage and most of the empennage was covered with oil. If the pilot had performed an adequate preflight before his return flight, it is likely that he would have noticed a significant
loss of engine oil.
= = =
= = =
The pilot reported that he just purchased this aircraft and this was his first flight in the aircraft to fly it back home to Texas. The pilot stated that during the takeoff roll from runway 34 left, the engine was running smooth. Full throttle was applied and at approximately 70 mph, lift off occurred and the aircraft entered a nose high attitude and began a continuous stall buffet. The pilot pitched the nose down to gain airspeed several times. Each time he pulled the stick back it would stall. The pilot stated that the aircraft attained about 30 to 35 feet above ground level, and while he was scanning the engine instruments, the aircraft drifted to the left of the runway. The pilot applied "hard right aileron to avoid hitting glide slope antenna..." The aircraft stalled and impacted the terrain next to the runway in an uncontrolled attitude with full throttle. The pilot stated that this was also the first flight for this aircraft since a new wood
propeller had been put on, after an earlier event prior to the purchase, in which the original propeller had been damaged. The pilot indicated that the wrong pitch and diameter propeller had been used and the aircraft was signed off as airworthy without having been test flown. The propeller blades were destroyed during the crash sequence.
= = =
= = =
The pilot had two Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), Young Eagle participants on board. Event organizers said the airplane was scheduled to land at Paine Field to allow the two Young Eagle participants to exchange seats, and then return to Boeing Field. Video cameras, at Paine Field, show the airplane crossing the threshold of runway 16L, the right wing rising up, and the airplane touching down approximately 200 feet from the end of the runway. A black skid mark was found on the left side of the runway; another skid mark parallel to and 10 feet left of the first mark, started 20 feet later, in the grass. The two parallel marks veered left until both marks were in the grass. The marks in the grass then proceeded parallel to the runway, and a third skid mark was observed between the first two. On taxiway F-2 [which was perpendicular to runway 16L and the skid marks], a 36 inch long silver score mark was found, which was parallel to the three skid
marks in the grass [wreckage examination found the airplane's tailskid assembly had been ground down]. Approximately 20 feet off the F-2 taxiway, an airport breakaway sign was broken from its mounts, and a black tire mark was found in the center of it. Next, the pilot transmitted to the ATC controller: "Paine Tower, Cherokee 5FN, something there happened, I don't know not sure what it doesn't feel right. Can you see my wheels?" Tower responded with: "Cherokee 5FN roger, we're looking, [your] wheels appear normal." The pilot said: "I'm at a steep angle at full power [and] hardly climbing." Tower asks: "Are your flaps up?" The pilot: "[The] flaps are up." Witnesses reported seeing the airplane depart on the runway heading, but at a very low altitude. One witness said that the airplane never got higher than 100 to 150 feet, and "he [the pilot] kept pulling the nose up at a very steep angle (about 45 degrees) and then push the nose down. I never saw him
push the nose down enough to gain much air speed. I thought he was going to stall it at least once above the runway. I saw him go through this cycle 4 or 5 times before he went out of sight behind the hangar." Another witness said "he was not gaining altitude. The plane was pitching up and down. I watched it fly over some trees, then it started losing altitude and it disappeared behind the trees." Three witnesses working near the crash site reported hearing "a loud snap of breaking tree tops." One of these witnesses said he saw the airplane's right wing hit the trees, and the airplane spun right and went nose first to the ground. A post impact fire ensued.