Pilot Debrief

PITTS S2C near Roseburg, OR — 2014-01-26

Final reportWPR14LA114
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Date
2014-01-26
Location
Roseburg, OR, USA
Airport
RBG
Aircraft
PITTS S2C
Registration
N102ZT
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

The pilot’s loss of orientation while scanning for airport traffic during the turn from the base to final legs of the traffic pattern, which resulted in his failure to maintain clearance from a tree.

NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot was conducting a local personal flight. The pilot reported that he entered the traffic pattern behind a much slower airplane and observed a second (high-wing) airplane on an apparent base leg about 1 mile south of the airport. The pilot made a right 360-degree turn while on the downwind leg for spacing. After reestablishing his position on the downwind leg, he requested position reports from local area traffic. The pilot in the first airplane in the traffic pattern reported clear of the runway; the accident pilot heard no other position reports and subsequently began a normal approach to the runway. Immediately before turning to final, the pilot from an unknown airplane transmitted that his airplane was on final for the same runway. The accident pilot then rolled the airplane wings level and checked the final approach path for traffic. He observed no traffic and subsequently rolled the airplane back into a left turn to final with a shallow left forward slip. As the airplane rolled onto short final, it collided with the upper portion of a tall tree. The pilot then landed the airplane successfully. The Federal Aviation Administration Digital Airport/Facility Directory noted that the runway had a displaced threshold of 371 ft due to a tree, which was also depicted on the airport diagram. It is likely that the pilot lost his orientation with respect to the tree when he diverted his scan to look for another airplane in the traffic pattern.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Controlled flight into terrain
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have chosen a different approach path to avoid the tree.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 1 docket document
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents1

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