N3433T

On January 31, 2000, approximately 1530 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 177, N3433T, collided with a personal residence during a balked landing at Harvey Airfield, Snohomish, Washington. The private pilot received serious injuries, his passenger received minor injuries, and the aircraft, which was owned by a friend of the pilot, was destroyed by a post-impact fire. The CFR Part 91 pleasure flight, which departed Skagit Regional Airport, Burlington, Washington, about 30 minutes prior to the accident, was operating in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT activation.

According to both the pilot and his pilot-rated passenger, while they were on final approach to runway 14, the wind seemed to shift about the time the aircraft crossed over the 22 foot-high wires just off the north end of the runway. As a result of the wind shift, the aircraft's rate of descent increased and the pilot added power. According to the pilot, there might have been a delay in engine response, but the passenger reported that the engine responded normally. According to the pilot, as the aircraft approached the runway surface, he began the landing flare, but not soon enough to properly arrest the rate of descent prior to contacting the runway surface. The aircraft then hit the runway hard, bounced back into the air, and began drifting to the left. According to the passenger, the pilot added partial power when the aircraft ballooned, but pulled the throttle to idle as the aircraft touched down on the grass along the northeast side of the runway. With about 1,500 feet of grass surface remaining on which to stop, the pilot put the flaps in the full-up position, turned off the carburetor heat, and added full power in an effort to abort the landing. Both the passenger and a number of other witnesses said that the pilot then pulled the nose of the aircraft up so high that the tiedown tang under the tail was digging into the dirt. Since the aircraft did not lift off as soon as the pilot thought it should, he told the passenger to "give me flaps," and the passenger moved the flaps to the 10 degree position. Soon thereafter, the pilot partially reduced power, moved the flaps back to the full-up position, and added full power again. Within a few seconds of adding power this second time, the pilot realized that the aircraft might not clear the fence at the southeast end of the airport property or the cars on the road just beyond the fence. He therefore brought the power to idle and tried to turn to the right away from the hangars that were under construction just off his left wing tip. This resulted in the aircraft heading toward the residence near the end of the runway. The pilot applied hard breaking, but due to the slippery wet grass he was unable to stop the aircraft prior to it contacting the house. After colliding with the house, the aircraft caught fire.

Both the pilot and the passenger reported that the engine was running smooth with no evidence of coughing, backfiring, or missing. The FAA inspector who responded to the scene reported that he saw no evidence that would lead him to believe there had been an engine malfunction or flight control anomaly.