Cessna 340 N2695S

Summary

On 2 October 2003 at about 23:00 local time, a Cessna 340 registered N2695S was involved in an accident near Blakely Island, Washington, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 October 2003 at 23:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Blakely Island, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

Blakely Island (38WA)

Coordinates

48.5789, -122.8264

Aircraft

Cessna 340

Registration

N2695S

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Roche Harbor → Blakely Island

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA04LA001

2 people had minor injuries.

The pilot's inadequate compensation for downdrafts on final approach resulting in an excessive descent rate on short final. Factors include downdrafts off the approach end of the selected runway, and low clouds/fog.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

When the pilot took off from Roche Harbor, the ceiling was about 700 feet above the ground (AGL), and remained so along his route. When he got to Blakely Island, he found the area near the north end of the runway was covered with low-level stratus clouds. Although he desired to land on runway 19, since the clouds were near the north end of the runway, he elected to proceed to the south end of the airport and land to the north. While on short final for runway 01, the aircraft encountered an area of downdrafts. Although the pilot added power and tried to adjust the sink rate, his remedial actions were insufficient to keep the aircraft from landing very hard just off the end of the paved surface. When the aircraft contacted the terrain, the landing gear collapsed, the wings were bent upwards, and the aircraft slid onto the paved runway surface and ultimately came to a stop. According to the pilot, there did not seem to be any problems with the aircraft's engines or flight control systems. The pilot further stated that because of the known turbulent air and downdrafts off the south end of the runway, of the "several hundred" landings he has made at Blakely Island, only a few have been on runway 01.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.