ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 45310
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| Date: | Saturday 18 January 2003 |
| Time: | 20:10 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-28-181 Archer |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N7282C |
| MSN: | 28-7690065 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1975 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 3210 hours |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Eastsound, WA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Sequim Valley Airport, WA (W28) |
| Eastsound-Orcas Island Airport, WA (ESD/KORS) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On January 18, 2003, approximately 2010 Pacific standard time, a Piper PA-28-181, N7282C, impacted the waters of President Channel about one-third mile west of Orcas Island, Washington. The private pilot received serious injuries, the passenger in the right front seat received minor injuries, one passenger in the rear seat was uninjured, and the other rear seat passenger was still strapped in the seat when the aircraft sank to the bottom. The aircraft, which was owned and operated by the pilot, was destroyed by the impact sequence and the effects of the salt-water immersion. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal pleasure flight, which departed Sequim, Washington, about 30 minutes prior to the accident, was being operated in an area where fog and low ceilings had been reported. No flight plan had been filed. There was no report of an ELT activation.
At the time of departure for the 30 minute night flight to an island destination, the pilot set his altimeter to field elevation instead of to the broadcast barometric pressure from the nearby Automated Surface Observation System (ASOS). During the climbout, the pilot contact Air Traffic Control, which gave him an altimeter barometric pressure setting and advised him of radar contact passing 2,500 feet. At that point the pilot set his altimeter to an indicated altitude of 2,500 feet instead of at the correct barometric pressure setting. Upon arriving in the area of the destination airport, the pilot found it covered by a low-level fog layer. Without acquiring an updated altimeter setting from the ASOS on the neighboring island, or from the Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) on the nearby mainland, he descended over the water in order to try to find a way to get to the airport underneath the fog. Just after leveling off at what his altimeter indicated was 500 feet, the aircraft impacted the water. It was ultimately determined that at no time during the flight did the pilot set the aircraft's altimeter in reference to an issued barometric pressure.
Probable Cause: The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the water and his failure to reset the altimeter to the local barometric pressure. Contributing factors were fog and night conditions.
Accident investigation:
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Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20030205X00167&key=1
Location
Images:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Oct-2008 00:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:24 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 08-Dec-2017 18:00 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Total occupants, Source, Narrative] |
| 26-Aug-2023 16:35 | Captain Adam | Updated [[Operator, Total occupants, Source, Narrative]] |
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