# Accident 19990805010789A: Cessna 180A, Kenai, AK, August 5, 1999

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: August 5, 1999, 13:48 local time
- Place: Kenai, AK
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Normal Cruise
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 60.6605° N, 150.9003° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=60.6605&lon=-150.9003&mi=10
- Aircraft: N8TL, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N8TL-1999-11-22) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 180A (registry code 2072604, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-180a) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 180A
- Reported engine: CONT O470K
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 2
- Pilot flight hours: 958 total, 58 in this make and model, 60 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB ANC99FA106](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC99FA106) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19990805010789A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

ACFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES IN ROUGH TERRAIN, THE PASSENGER SUFFERED FATAL INJURIES, THE PILOT HAS UNKNOWN INJURIES, THE ACFT WAS DESTROYED. (-23) ON AUGUST 5, 1999, AT ABOUT 1400 ALASKA DAYLIGHT TIME, A CESSNA 180 FLOATPLANE, N8TL, WAS DESTROYED WHEN IT IMPACTED A MOUNTAIN SLOPE ABOUT 700 MSL, NEAR THE EAST ENTRANCE TO LAKE CLARK PASS, ABOUT 39 MILES WEST OF KENAI, ALASKA. THE PRIVATE PILOT AND ONE PASSENGER ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED. THE AIRPLANE WAS OPERATED BY OPPORTUNITY FLYING CLUB, INC. OF ANCHORAGE, ALASKA. THIS WAS A 14 CFR 91 PERSONAL FLIGHT, WHICH DEPARTED LAKE HOOD FORDILLINGHAM, ALASKA. A VFR FLIGHT PLAN WAS ON FILE. AT 1438, AN ELT SIGNAL WAS RECEIVED, AND THE WRECKAGE WAS LOCATED AT 1856 BY THE AIR FORCE RESCUE HELICOPTER. WHILE CONDUCTING AN ON SCENE INSPECTION, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE AIRPLANE STRUCK A TREE AT ABOUT THE 950' LEVEL MSL. THE WRECKAGE WAS FOUND ON A BEARING OF 060 DEGREES MAGNETIC FROM IMPACT WITH THE TREE. DURING INTERVIEWS WITH OTHER PILOTS FLYING THROUGH LAKE CLARK PASS AT THE APPROXIMATE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE WEATHER WAS ABOUT 1200                                                                       MSL OVERCAST AND 2 MILES VISIBILITY, RAIN, WITH AN EASTERLY WIND OF APPROXIMATELY 40 KNOTS. (.4) THE PRIVATE PILOT WAS ATTEMPTING TO TRANSIT A 20 MILE LONG MOUNTAINOUS PASS.  HE HAD DELAYED HIS FLIGHT THREE TIMES THE DAY OF THE ACCIDENT.  PILOT WEATHER REPORTS (PIREPS) FROM PILOTS WHO HAD FLOWN THROUGH THE PASS INDICATED THE WEATHER DETERIORATED ABOUT ONE MILE WEST OF THE ACCIDENT SITE TO 700 FEET OVERCAST CEILINGS AND 1 MILE VISIBILITY.  THE PIREPS DESCRIBED RAIN, MIST, AND WINDS FROM THE EAST OF 25 KNOTS, GUSTING TO 40 KNOTS.  THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED A TREE ON A SMALL RIDGE ON THE SIDE OF THE VALLEY AT 950 FEET MSL, AND CAME TO REST 380 LINEAR FEET AWAY, AT AN ALTITUDE OF 700 FEET MSL.  THE FINAL FLIGHT PATH WAS ON A GROUND TRACK OF 060 DEGREES MAGNETIC, BACK TOWARD THE EASTERN ENTRANCE TO THE PASS.  THE NTSB INVESTIGATOR-IN-CHARGE INTERVIEWED FOUR PILOTS WHO SUCCESSFULLY TRANSITED THE PASS DURING THE TIME PERIOD SURROUNDING THE ACCIDENT.  ALL FOUR INDICATED THAT AT 950 FEET MSL, THE ACCIDENT AIRPLANE WOULD HAVE BEEN AT OR INTO THE BASES OF THE OVERCAST.  ALL FOUR ALSO INDICATED THEY FLEW THROUGH THE PASS BETWEEN 300 AND 800                                                          FEET IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN VISUAL CONTACT WITH THE TERRAIN. POSTACCIDENT INSPECTION OF THE AIRPLANE DISCLOSED NO EVIDENCE OF ANY PREIMPACT MECHANICAL ANOMALIES.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB ANC99FA106](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC99FA106), Aug 5, 1999: Cessna 180A (N8TL), Kenai, AK, destroyed, 2 fatal. Probable cause: The pilot's intentional visual flight into known adverse weather. Factors associated with this accident were the reported low ceilings, obscuration, high winds, and turbulence.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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