What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
Pilot was attempting to land on the knik glacier. The pilot stated he had flown over the area several times previously on the same day. He was familiar with the area and the conditions of the glacier surface. The weather was VFR with a high sun and good illumination above the lip of the surrounding terrain. On the mishap flight, the pilot flew below the lip of the surrounding terrain in preparation for landing and realized the available light was diminishing quickly to the point where he experienced low or flat lighting. The pilot identified elevated terrain in front of his airplane that he determined he would not be able to out climb. The pilot elected to land on the glacier. The pilot stated he did not have sufficient time to establish a normal descent rate for landing resulting in a hard landing and damage to the airplane. Upon landing, the left landing gear collapsed and the left wing was damaged. There were no injuries.
As the FAA filed it
PILOT WAS ATTEMPTING TO LAND ON THE KNIK GLACIER. THE PILOT STATED HE HAD FLOWN OVER THE AREA SEVERAL TIMES PREVIOUSLY ON THE SAME DAY. HE WAS FAMILIAR WITH THE AREA AND THE CONDITIONS OF THE GLACIER SURFACE. THE WEATHER WAS VFR WITH A HIGH SUN AND GOOD ILLUMINATION ABOVE THE LIP OF THE SURROUNDING TERRAIN.ON THE MISHAP FLIGHT, THE PILOT FLEW BELOW THE LIP OF THE SURROUNDING TERRAIN IN PREPARATION FOR LANDING AND REALIZED THE AVAILABLE LIGHT WAS DIMINISHING QUICKLY TO THE POINT WHERE HE EXPERIENCED LOW OR FLAT LIGHTING. THE PILOT IDENTIFIED ELEVATED TERRAIN IN FRONT OF HIS AIRPLANE THAT HE DETERMINED HE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO OUT CLIMB. THE PILOT ELECTED TO LAND ON THE GLACIER. THE PILOT STATED HE DID NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT TIME TO ESTABLISH A NORMAL DESCENT RATE FOR LANDING RESULTING IN A HARD LANDING AND DAMAGE TO THE AIRPLANE.UPON LANDING, THE LEFT LANDING GEAR COLLAPSED AND THE LEFT WING WAS DAMAGED.THERE WERE NO INJURIES.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.
Other reports on N266V · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.