Investigation Docket - National Transportation Safety Board: https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms
http://registry.faa.gov/N8141X
NTSB Identification: WPR13LA378
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, August 18, 2013 in Sisters, OR
Probable Cause Approval Date: 08/07/2014
Aircraft: CESSNA 172B, registration: N8141X
Injuries: 4 Uninjured.
NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The pilot was flying over a heavily wooded, remote area when the engine lost power. He restarted the engine several times, and each time the engine ran for a shorter period of time. Eventually unable to restart the engine, the pilot chose to ditch the airplane in a lake rather than descend into trees. The airplane sank in about 8 feet of water and came to rest at the bottom of the lake. The airplane was eventually recovered from the lake, but the engine was not properly preserved to prevent corrosion. The pilot reported no preimpact malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The reason for the loss of engine power could not be determined.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
A loss of engine power during cruise flight for reasons that could not be determined because the engine was not properly preserved to prevent corrosion after the wreckage was recovered from the lake.
On August 18, 2013, about 1000 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 172B airplane, N8141X, sustained substantial damage following a loss of engine power during cruise flight, and ditching in a remote mountain lake, about 18 miles northwest of Sisters, Oregon. The airplane was registered to a private individual and operated by the pilot as a personal local flight, under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The private pilot and the three passengers were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed. The flight departed the Lebanon State Airport, Lebanon, Oregon, (S30) about 0745.
During a telephone interview with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on August 22, the pilot said that he and his passengers had flown to the remote area to scout potential camp sites for an upcoming trip to the area.
During the return flight to the airport, the engine abruptly lost power. He was able to restart the engine, and suspecting the possibility of carburetor ice, he used carburetor heat. The engine ran for about 5 minutes, and abruptly lost power again. He again was able to restart the engine, which ran for 2-3 minutes before losing power for the third time. He restarted the engine, but it ran for less than one minute. He was unable to restart the engine.
The pilot was flying over heavily wooded, rugged terrain, and elected to ditch the airplane in a Lake. He prepared the airplane and passengers for the ditching. After the airplane came to rest in the water near a shoreline, the pilot and passengers exited the airplane as the cabin filled with water. After a short rest, while holding on to the wings of the still floating airplane, all the occupants of the airplane successfully swam to shore.
The airplane sank in about 8 feet of water, coming to rest on the bottom of the lake, with its tail sticking above the surface.
According to the pilot, the airplane is owned by another family member, and they have been flying it for the past 3 to 4 years. He said there were no known mechanical problems with the airplane prior to the accident.
The airplane was eventually recovered from the lake, but its engine was not preserved to prevent corrosion. Despite repeated requests, the operator/pilot did not submit the NTSB Form 6120.1 PILOT/OPERATOR AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT/INCIDENT REPORT.
NTSB Identification: WPR13LA378
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, August 18, 2013 in Sisters, OR
Aircraft: CESSNA 172B, registration: N8141X
Injuries: 4 Uninjured.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On August 18, 2013, about 1000 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 172B airplane, N8141X, sustained substantial damage following a loss of engine power during cruise flight, and ditched into a remote mountain lake, about 18 miles northwest of Sisters, Oregon. The airplane was being operated by the pilot as a personal local flight, under the provisions of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed. The pilot and the three passengers were not injured. The flight departed the Lebanon Airport, Lebanon, Oregon, (S30) about 0745.
During a telephone interview with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on August 22, the pilot said that he and his passengers had flown to the remote area to scout potential camp sites for an upcoming trip to the area.
During the return flight to the airport, the engine abruptly quit. He was able to restart the engine, and suspecting the possibility of carburetor ice, he used carburetor heat. The engine ran for about 5 minutes, and abruptly quit again. He was able to restart the engine, which ran for 2-3 minutes before quitting for the third time. He restarted the engine, but it ran for less than one minute. He was unable to restart the engine.
The pilot had been flying over heavily wooded, rugged terrain, when he elected to ditch the airplane in a lake. He prepared the airplane and passengers for the ditching. After the airplane came to rest in the water near a shoreline, the pilot and passengers exited the airplane as the cabin filled with water and swam to shore.
The airplane sank in about 8 feet of water, coming to rest on the bottom of the lake, with its tail protruding above the surface.
According to the pilot, the airplane is owned by a family member, and they have been flying it for the past 3-4 years. He said there were no known mechanical problems with the airplane prior to the accident.
The airplane has not been recovered from the lake.
LINN COUNTY, OR (KPTV) - A plane that made an emergency landing in a Linn County lake was pulled out of the water Wednesday. A helicopter lifted the single-engine Cessna plane that went down Aug. 18 at Marion Lake in the Willamette National Forest. Air 12 was there as the plane was towed in the air to dry land. Deputies said the airplane flew out of Lebanon Municipal Airport that morning to look for elk hunting areas.
The plane began experiencing problems and then had total engine failure. The pilot, Trevor Schultz, 28, of Lebanon, spotted Marion Lake and was able to glide down and safely land on the water, according to investigators. Three passengers were on board, including two children ages 12 and 13, along with a 47-year-old man. They were not harmed and deputies said they were all in good spirits after the emergency landing. A Boy Scout troop hiking in the area witnessed the emergency landing and the scout leader helped guide the pilot to the lake's trail head. The Federal Aviation Investigation is investigating the situation.
MARION FORKS — There’s a good chance a 1961 Cessna 172 sitting at the bottom of Marion Lake may fly again some day, according to Larry Lewis, an investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.
Pilot Travor Schultz, 28, of Lebanon glided the plane into the lake after its engine stalled four times a little after 10 a.m. Sunday. Schultz and his three passengers escaped the plane uninjured before it sank. Boy Scouts from Salem who were camping near the lake assisted the four and guided them to a nearby trailhead to meet Linn County deputies.
“It’s in fresh water, not salt water,” Lewis said. “There probably wasn’t a lot of damage to the plane itself, or the four passengers probably would not have been able to get out without injury.”
But extrication will be a little more difficult than similar crashes because Marion Lake is in the Jefferson Wildness Area of the Willamette National Forest, where motorized vehicles and equipment are not allowed.
Lewis spent 13 years with the NTSB in Alaska and has investigated numerous plane crashes involving water landings.
“The process is that we’ve been dealing with the owners’ insurance company,” Lewis said. “They’ve gotten in touch with a salvage company from the Oregon coast, and they’re developing a plan to raise the plane.”
Lewis said he has not visited the lake, but will examine the plane once it is on dry land. He works out of a home office north of Spokane.
“Typically, a helicopter will pluck the plane out of the water and airlift it to a nearby landing, where the wings will be taken off and the body put on a truck to be moved to an airport,” Lewis said.
Lewis said that in most cases like this, large float bags will be attached to the plane. They will be filled with air and the plane floated to the surface.
“I don’t know what the shoreline is like, but usually, they tow the plane to a beach and let the water drain out of it,” Lewis said.
Marion Lake encompasses about 300 acres in the far northeast corner of Linn County.
After all the occupants of the plane that made a watery crash landing Sunday were determined safe, there was still one question left unanswered.
How do you get a single-engine Cessna 172B removed from a lake in the middle of the Willamette National Forest?
Solving that riddle are officials with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Transportation Safety Board, who have to work with insurance companies to determine the best way to extract the plane.
The lake in question is Marion Lake, about four miles southeast of Marion Forks on Highway 22 in Linn County. It can be accessed by hiking about two miles from the end of Marion Creek Road.
The inaccessibility of the lake by road, how far into the water the plane is and the integrity of the surrounding forest all are factors that will shape the extraction process.
“They’re going to use what will have the least impact on the wilderness,” said Judith McHugh, public affairs officer with the Willamette National Forest. “You have to think about the duration of the impact and the potential for any hazards it could create. I don’t want to say it’s complicated, but it has a lot of different facets.”
Larry Lewis is an air safety investigator with the NTSB who is looking into this particular incident. Although he said no concrete plan has been determined, it’s likely a helicopter will lift the plane out of the lake.
“We’ve done this quite a bit,” he said, referring to his years of experience doing similar extractions in Alaska. “Depending on the airplane, they’ll probably float that one to the surface with float bags. It shouldn’t be a big issue to lift it out of there with a helicopter.”
Lewis said he hasn’t seen the lake or the exact situation yet, so he can’t speak to specifics.
“It can depend on how remote the location is,” he said. “This one isn’t that far away. It all depends on your experience — my experience is in Alaska, so this is not a remote recovery.”
The whole process of floating the plane to the surface, hooking it up and air-lifting it out can be done in a single day.
In the meantime, officials are keeping an eye on the plane to make sure it doesn’t start leaking fluids and contaminating the water. McHugh said they’ve been lucky in that, for now, the lake remains clean.
“That plane has a relatively small gas tank and had already been flying for a good number of hours so it had used up some good proportion of its fuel,” she said. “Very small engine with very little oil sealed in there. It’s just incredibly good news.” http://registry.faa.gov/N8141X
NTSB Identification: WPR13LA378
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, August 18, 2013 in Sisters, OR
Aircraft: CESSNA 172B, registration: N8141X
Injuries: 4 Uninjured.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On August 18, 2013, about 1000 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 172B airplane, N8141X, sustained substantial damage following a loss of engine power during cruise flight, and ditched into a remote mountain lake, about 18 miles northwest of Sisters, Oregon. The airplane was being operated by the pilot as a personal local flight, under the provisions of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed. The pilot and the three passengers were not injured. The flight departed the Lebanon Airport, Lebanon, Oregon, (S30) about 0745.
During a telephone interview with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on August 22, the pilot said that he and his passengers had flown to the remote area to scout potential camp sites for an upcoming trip to the area.
During the return flight to the airport, the engine abruptly quit. He was able to restart the engine, and suspecting the possibility of carburetor ice, he used carburetor heat. The engine ran for about 5 minutes, and abruptly quit again. He was able to restart the engine, which ran for 2-3 minutes before quitting for the third time. He restarted the engine, but it ran for less than one minute. He was unable to restart the engine.
The pilot had been flying over heavily wooded, rugged terrain, when he elected to ditch the airplane in a lake. He prepared the airplane and passengers for the ditching. After the airplane came to rest in the water near a shoreline, the pilot and passengers exited the airplane as the cabin filled with water and swam to shore.
The airplane sank in about 8 feet of water, coming to rest on the bottom of the lake, with its tail protruding above the surface.
According to the pilot, the airplane is owned by a family member, and they have been flying it for the past 3-4 years. He said there were no known mechanical problems with the airplane prior to the accident.
The airplane has not been recovered from the lake.
LINN COUNTY, OR (KPTV) - A plane that made an emergency landing in a Linn County lake was pulled out of the water Wednesday. A helicopter lifted the single-engine Cessna plane that went down Aug. 18 at Marion Lake in the Willamette National Forest. Air 12 was there as the plane was towed in the air to dry land. Deputies said the airplane flew out of Lebanon Municipal Airport that morning to look for elk hunting areas.
The plane began experiencing problems and then had total engine failure. The pilot, Trevor Schultz, 28, of Lebanon, spotted Marion Lake and was able to glide down and safely land on the water, according to investigators. Three passengers were on board, including two children ages 12 and 13, along with a 47-year-old man. They were not harmed and deputies said they were all in good spirits after the emergency landing. A Boy Scout troop hiking in the area witnessed the emergency landing and the scout leader helped guide the pilot to the lake's trail head. The Federal Aviation Investigation is investigating the situation.
MARION FORKS — There’s a good chance a 1961 Cessna 172 sitting at the bottom of Marion Lake may fly again some day, according to Larry Lewis, an investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.
Pilot Travor Schultz, 28, of Lebanon glided the plane into the lake after its engine stalled four times a little after 10 a.m. Sunday. Schultz and his three passengers escaped the plane uninjured before it sank. Boy Scouts from Salem who were camping near the lake assisted the four and guided them to a nearby trailhead to meet Linn County deputies.
“It’s in fresh water, not salt water,” Lewis said. “There probably wasn’t a lot of damage to the plane itself, or the four passengers probably would not have been able to get out without injury.”
But extrication will be a little more difficult than similar crashes because Marion Lake is in the Jefferson Wildness Area of the Willamette National Forest, where motorized vehicles and equipment are not allowed.
Lewis spent 13 years with the NTSB in Alaska and has investigated numerous plane crashes involving water landings.
“The process is that we’ve been dealing with the owners’ insurance company,” Lewis said. “They’ve gotten in touch with a salvage company from the Oregon coast, and they’re developing a plan to raise the plane.”
Lewis said he has not visited the lake, but will examine the plane once it is on dry land. He works out of a home office north of Spokane.
“Typically, a helicopter will pluck the plane out of the water and airlift it to a nearby landing, where the wings will be taken off and the body put on a truck to be moved to an airport,” Lewis said.
Lewis said that in most cases like this, large float bags will be attached to the plane. They will be filled with air and the plane floated to the surface.
“I don’t know what the shoreline is like, but usually, they tow the plane to a beach and let the water drain out of it,” Lewis said.
Marion Lake encompasses about 300 acres in the far northeast corner of Linn County.
After all the occupants of the plane that made a watery crash landing Sunday were determined safe, there was still one question left unanswered.
How do you get a single-engine Cessna 172B removed from a lake in the middle of the Willamette National Forest?
Solving that riddle are officials with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Transportation Safety Board, who have to work with insurance companies to determine the best way to extract the plane.
The lake in question is Marion Lake, about four miles southeast of Marion Forks on Highway 22 in Linn County. It can be accessed by hiking about two miles from the end of Marion Creek Road.
The inaccessibility of the lake by road, how far into the water the plane is and the integrity of the surrounding forest all are factors that will shape the extraction process.
“They’re going to use what will have the least impact on the wilderness,” said Judith McHugh, public affairs officer with the Willamette National Forest. “You have to think about the duration of the impact and the potential for any hazards it could create. I don’t want to say it’s complicated, but it has a lot of different facets.”
Larry Lewis is an air safety investigator with the NTSB who is looking into this particular incident. Although he said no concrete plan has been determined, it’s likely a helicopter will lift the plane out of the lake.
“We’ve done this quite a bit,” he said, referring to his years of experience doing similar extractions in Alaska. “Depending on the airplane, they’ll probably float that one to the surface with float bags. It shouldn’t be a big issue to lift it out of there with a helicopter.”
Lewis said he hasn’t seen the lake or the exact situation yet, so he can’t speak to specifics.
“It can depend on how remote the location is,” he said. “This one isn’t that far away. It all depends on your experience — my experience is in Alaska, so this is not a remote recovery.”
The whole process of floating the plane to the surface, hooking it up and air-lifting it out can be done in a single day.
In the meantime, officials are keeping an eye on the plane to make sure it doesn’t start leaking fluids and contaminating the water. McHugh said they’ve been lucky in that, for now, the lake remains clean.
“That plane has a relatively small gas tank and had already been flying for a good number of hours so it had used up some good proportion of its fuel,” she said. “Very small engine with very little oil sealed in there. It’s just incredibly good news.”
