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SEA02FA124

2002-07-06 · Battle Ground, Washington, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport WA87

N51PL has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (BELL TEXTRON CANADA LTD 505), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain the proper airspeed (80 mph) on final approach resulting in a bounced landing and a loss of control during an attempted go-around and ultimately the on ground collision with a residence. Contributing factors were the pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the attempted go-around maneuver and the residence (structure).

Factual narrative

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On July 6, 2002, approximately 0845 Pacific daylight time an Unrein Productmatch 80 P51D, N51PL, was substantially damaged when the aircraft flew into the side of a garage attached to a private residence during an attempted go-around maneuver at a private airstrip two nautical miles northwest of Battle Ground, Washington. The pilot was uninjured. Visual meteorological conditions existed and no flight plan had been filed. The flight, which was personal, was operated under 14 CFR 91, and originated at Kelso, Washington, approximately 15 minutes earlier. The pilot reported that upon arrival at his destination he entered the traffic pattern for runway 7 establishing the aircraft at 95 miles per hour (mph) on the downwind with the landing gear and flaps down. He reduced airspeed to 90 mph turning base and then decelerated to 80 mph on final. Upon touchdown the aircraft bounced and began a left roll. The pilot applied full right rudder, full right aileron and full power in an attempt to recover. With the aircraft in a 30-degree left bank headed towards homes and trees he cut power and attempted an intentional left ground loop maneuver. The aircraft impacted a chain link fence and then penetrated the wall of a residence coming to rest inside a multi-car garage. The aircraft remained upright throughout the event and the pilot exited the aircraft after it came to rest. The pilot also reported, "...In setting up for landing [he] must have let [the] airspeed fall below the critical 80-mph threshold speed..." (refer to attached NTSB Form 6120.1/2 and pilot's statement).

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The privately certificated pilot reported a total of 2001 hours of flight experience, which included 356 hours in N51PL. He also reported that he had conducted 431 landings in this aircraft of which 14 were within the 60 days previous to the accident, and that during the previous eight years of flying N51PL he had landed at numerous airports with varying and diverse conditions.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

N51PL was built by the pilot/owner and was certificated as an experimental aircraft which was an approximate 80% scale to the original North American P-51 fighter. The aircraft was two-place, had a maximum takeoff weight of 2,800 pounds and was equipped with a 295 horsepower Lycoming GO-480 reciprocating engine. The pilot reported to the investigator-in-charge that there was no mechanical malfunction with the aircraft's engine or control systems during the accident.

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

The aviation surface weather observation taken at 0855 at the Portland International Airport (13 nautical miles south) reported in part visibility 10 miles and no clouds below 15,000 feet. The temperature and dew point were reported as 17/10 degrees Centigrade respectively and the winds were from 300 degrees magnetic at 5 knots. The pilot reported calm winds at the time of the accident.

AERODROME INFORMATION

The Parkside Airpark is a private, airspaced airstrip (identifier WA87). The airstrip has a single asphalt runway the magnetic centerline, which was measured to be 073/253 degrees magnetic. According to the most current FAA Form 5010, the runway measures 2,100 feet in length by 25 feet in width (refer to Attachment FAA-I). The airport is surrounded on its north and south sides by private residences (refer to photograph 1). The pilot reported trees at both approach ends of the runway. The FAA Form 5010 references 120-foot trees 1,000 feet short of the approach end of runway 25. The obstruction data for the approach to runway 07 was left blank. High trees were noted around the airport (refer to photograph 01).

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

The aircraft passed through a chain-link fence and impacted into the side of a multi-car garage attached to a personal residence along the northern edge of the airstrip. The location of the accident was 45 degrees 48.99 minutes North latitude and 122 degrees 33.22 minutes West longitude approximately 275 feet above mean sea level (refer to CHART I). Examination of ground marks at the airstrip revealed a single, narrow wheel track departing the runway pavement approximately 610 feet upwind of the runway 7 threshold and tracking across the grass surface north of the runway. The approximate bearing line of this track mark was 038 degrees magnetic (refer to photograph 2). The wheel mark progressed approximately 350 feet to a chain link fence attached to the side of the impacted residence. Approximately two-thirds of the distance beyond the point where this track appeared at the north edge of the runway two new tracks, larger in size appeared, one on each side of the smaller track. All three tracks continued to the fence line. The aircraft was observed inside the multi-car garage with only the vertical and horizontal stabilizers protruding outside (refer to photographs 3 through 5). There was no post-crash fire.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

On-site examination of the wreckage was conducted on July 6, 2002, after which the wreckage was verbally released to the pilot/owner. The pilot/owner of the 80% scale North American P-51D experimental replica, entered the pattern for runway seven (2100 feet long - asphalt) establishing the aircraft at 95 miles per hour (mph) on the downwind with the landing gear and flaps down. He reduced airspeed to 90 mph turning base and then decelerated to 80 mph on final. Upon touchdown the aircraft bounced and began a left roll. The pilot applied full right rudder, full right aileron and full power in an attempt to recover. With the aircraft in a 30-degree left bank headed towards homes and trees he cut power and attempted an intentional left ground loop maneuver. The aircraft impacted a chain link fence and then penetrated the wall of a residence coming to rest inside a multi-car garage. The pilot had 356 hours of experience and numerous landings in the accident aircraft. He reported the winds as calm at the time of the landing. The pilot also reported that he allowed the airspeed to decelerate below the "critical 80-mph threshold speed." Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2002_SEA02FA124.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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