Curtiss-Wright 12W N11715

Summary

On 26 July 1998 at about 21:30 local time, a Curtiss-Wright 12W registered N11715 was involved in an accident near Woodland, Washington, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

26 July 1998 at 21:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Woodland, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

Woodland State (WA71)

Coordinates

45.9392, -122.6709

Aircraft

Curtiss-Wright 12W

Registration

N11715

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Vancouver → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA98LA151

Nobody was injured.

The pilot in command misjudged clearance from high vegetation when he landed. Factors include inadequate mowing of high vegetation by airport personnel, providing insufficient clearance for the wingspan of landing airplanes

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of the antique biplane stated that he preferred to land on grass when possible, so he elected to land on the 800 foot grass overrun area of the 1965 foot runway. From the air, the freshly mowed overrun looked acceptable, with the eight to nine foot high stand of scotch bloom showing as a dark green from the air and appearing to be grass. He slipped to a landing, touched down straight and was tracking near the middle of the mowed area when his right wing tip caught in the scotch bloom. The vegetation pulled the aircraft off the right side of the runway, and the lower left wing impacted the ground, causing substantial damage. According to FAA inspectors, the first signatures of impact were 62 feet from the near end of the runway. The airplane came to a stop 247 feet from the near end of the runway. The width of the mowed area of the runway was 49.5 feet, at the time the FAA inspector checked it. The pilot stated that the mowed overrun of 800 feet was mowed 25 feet wide up to the edge of the eight to nine feet high scrub brush at the time of the accident, and that his airplane had a 28 foot wing span.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.