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20091002050249I

Incident · Substantial damage
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FAA incident report · Dehavilland DHC-2 · Kakhonak, AK · October 2, 2009

FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal

Date
October 2, 2009 · 15:30 local
Place
Kakhonak, AK
Airport
Off Airport
Phase of flight
Other, Specify
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Substantial damage
Aircraft
N900NL
Reported as
Dehavilland DHC-2
Reported engine
Pratt & Whitney R-985 series
People aboard
1
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0
Pilot’s certificate
Airline transport
Pilot’s flight hours
15,000 total7,500 in this make and model150 in the last 90 days
N900NLRegistered now · Dehavilland DHC-2S/N 1063 · Built 1957Airframe modelDehavilland DHC-2Engine modelPratt & Whitney R-985 seriesReciprocating

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry 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.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

The pilot in command was repositioning the aircraft to a location more protected from the weather. Doing so required getting on the "step" to avoid shoals and going so FAR off shore as to encounter high waves, rough water and higher strength winds. While on the "step" the aircraft encountered a wind gust or shear that lifted the right wing, which resulted in the airplane rolling 180 degrees to the left, subsequently submerging inverted.

As the FAA filed it

THE PILOT IN COMMAND WAS REPOSITIONING THE AIRCRAFT TO A LOCATION MORE PROTECTED FROM THE WEATHER. DOING SO REQUIRED GETTING ON THE "STEP" TO AVOID SHOALS AND GOING SO FAR OFF SHORE AS TO ENCOUNTER HIGH WAVES, ROUGH WATER AND HIGHER STRENGTH WINDS. WHILE ON THE "STEP" THE AIRCRAFT ENCOUNTERED A WIND GUST OR SHEAR THAT LIFTED THE RIGHT WING, WHICH RESULTED IN THE AIRPLANE ROLLING 180 DEGREES TO THE LEFT, SUBSEQUENTLY SUBMERGING INVERTED.