SEA03FA100 · Aviat Aircraft Inc. A-1
Aviat Aircraft Inc. A-1 · Accident: in flight collision with object during initial climb
From Camas County Airport (U86) to Atlanta Airport (55H)
Event
- NTSB case
- SEA03FA100
- 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
- 2 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- 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
Aviat Aircraft Inc. A-1
- Aircraft type
- Aviat A-1
- 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
- N104CA
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Camas County Airport (U86), Fairfield, IDTo Atlanta Airport (55H), Atlanta, ID
- 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 91: General Aviation
- 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
- Initial climb
- 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
- In flight collision with object
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Tree(s)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Pilot in command › Clearance, not maintained
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
A witness reported that the aircraft circled the area before approaching runway 34. The witness stated that the aircraft was coming in too fast and too high when it pulled up. The aircraft circled around and started the approach again. The aircraft touched down about mid-field on the 2,650 foot gravel airstrip when the witness heard a backfire and the aircraft was observed to veer to the right of the runway. The aircraft lifted off subsequently colliding with an approximate 80 foot tall pine tree located about 400 feet from the end of the runway with its right wing. The aircraft then descended to the ground coming to rest upright about 76 feet from the tree. Airport facilities directories and guide books describing the cautions for operating into this airstrip were found in the wreckage. The advisories recommend to land runway 34 and depart runway 16. Other cautions state to "use at own risk" and "Can be hazardous. Not recommended except experienced pilots with local knowledge." Mountainous terrain surrounded the airstrip and tall trees were located in close proximity to the airstrip. This was the first time the pilot had been into this airstrip. Post-crash inspection of the aircraft and engine did not find evidence of a mechanical failure or malfunction.
Probable cause
Clearance from trees was not maintained during the initial climb. A proper touchdown point was not attained, the pilot's lack of familiarity with the geographic area and trees were factors.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record SEA03FA100
- Event ID
- 20030620X00921
- Case number
- SEA03FA100
- 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, coordinates. 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: 8d0e5f6e0014dac40a632a0c8debf45289956c234ef0f6f649fbdcf4b4c107b1; retrieved 2026-09-20T19:10:19.630Z.