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SEA93FA094 · Grumman A6E

14 Apr 1993 · STEPTOE, WA, United States

United States Navy Grumman A6E and Grumman-Schweizer G-164A · Accident: midair collision while maneuvering

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Event

NTSB case
SEA93FA094
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Aircraft 1 · Grumman A6E

Aircraft type
Grumman A6
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
USN
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Whidbey Island Naval Air Station (Ault Field) (NUW), NAS WHIDBEY IS, WATo Whidbey Island Naval Air Station (Ault Field) (NUW)
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Armed Forces
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Maneuvering
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Midair collision
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Aircraft 2 · Grumman-Schweizer G-164A

Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N8630H
Operator
Fender, Darrell · private individual
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Streamline Heliport (0WA0), Colfax, WATo Streamline Heliport (0WA0)
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 137: Agricultural
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
En route · cruise
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Midair collision
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Visual separation, not possible
  • Pilot of other aircraft › Visual separation, not possible

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

THE A6E WAS TRACKING 033 DEG LEVEL AT 200 FT AGL AT 468 KTS VFR IN PUBLISHED ROUTE VR-1354. THE AGCAT WAS TRACKING 334 DEG LEVEL AT 200 FT AGL AT 96 KTS VFR ACROSS THE ROUTE TO HIS DESTINATION SPRAY FIELD. THE TWO AIRCRAFT CONVERGED ON A 59 DEG COLLISION ANGLE WITH A CLOSURE SPEED OF 429 KTS. THE A6E NOTIFIED FSS THAT HE WAS ENTERING THE ROUTE LATE AND PROJECTED EXITING 8 MINUTES AFTER THE PUBLISHED CLOSURE OF THE ROUTE. THE AGCAT PILOT REPORTED HE WAS UNAWARE OF ANY INFORMATION/PUBLICATIONS REGARDING THE OPERATION OF MILITARY AIRCRAFT IN THE AREA. THE LOCAL FSS WAS IN THE HABIT OF REPORTING THE ROUTE 'HOT' 24 HRS A DAY RATHER THAN THE PRECISE SCHEDULE. THE CONVERGENCE ANGLE OF THE A6E WAS 111 DEG (8 O'CLOCK POSITION & BEHIND THE AGCAT'S LEFT WING). THE CONVERGENCE ANGLE OF THE AGCAT WAS 10 DEG. AT THE PROJECTED CLOSURE SPEED THE AGCAT WOULD HAVE SUBTENDED AN ANGLE OF 0.2 DEG 8.6 SECS BEFORE IMPACT; THE A6E 19.2 SECS.

Probable cause

THE INHERENT LIMITATIONS OF THE SEE-AND-AVOID CONCEPT OF SEPARATION OF AIRCRAFT OPERATING UNDER VISUAL FLIGHT RULES THAT PRECLUDED THE CREW OF THE A6E AND THE PILOT OF THE AGCAT FROM RECOGNIZING A COLLISION HAZARD AND TAKING ACTIONS TO AVOID A MIDAIR COLLISION.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record SEA93FA094
Event ID
20001211X12242
Case number
SEA93FA094
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 33fe2a647ca61c132d18cc28447e68c4d56bc69fd868c13713190afa9ff24a4c; retrieved 2026-09-21T14:28:44.587Z.