20120502007119A

Accident · Substantial damage

FAA accident report · Short Bros. & Harland SC7 SERIES 3 · Chefornak, AK · May 2, 2012

FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal NTSB investigation search

Date: May 2, 2012 · 10:45 local
Place: Chefornak, AK
Phase of flight: Landing: Rollout
Operating rules: Air taxi and commuter (Part 135)
Operator: UATA
Damage: Substantial damage
Aircraft: N1906
Reported as: Short Bros. & Harland SC7 Series 3
Reported engine: AiResearch TPE331 series
People aboard: 1
Fatal injuries: 0
Other injuries: 0
Pilot’s certificate: Airline transport
Pilot’s flight hours: 19,544 total4,668 in this make and model194 in the last 90 days

N1906Registration cancelled Jan 2, 2015 · Short Bros. & Harland SC7 SERIES 3S/N SH1906 · Built 1972 Airframe modelShort Bros. & Harland SC7 SERIES 3 Engine modelAiResearch TPE331 seriesTurbo-prop

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 was attempting to land on runway 34 with 3 miles visibility in haze. This created a flat light situation. As the pilot lined up on final he thought the road next to the runway was actually the runway. After landing on the road he hit a large dip that pitched the airplane nose up, this forced the tail to drag the ground. When the nose came back down damage was done to the nose gear. The runway was snow covered and the road was showing gravel from vehicle use.

As the FAA filed it

THE PILOT WAS ATTEMPTING TO LAND ON RUNWAY 34 WITH 3 MILES VISIBILITY IN HAZE. THIS CREATED A FLAT LIGHT SITUATION. AS THE PILOT LINED UP ON FINAL HE THOUGHT THE ROAD NEXT TO THE RUNWAY WAS ACTUALLY THE RUNWAY. AFTER LANDING ON THE ROAD HE HIT A LARGE DIP THAT PITCHED THE AIRPLANE NOSE UP, THIS FORCED THE TAIL TO DRAG THE GROUND. WHEN THE NOSE CAME BACK DOWN DAMAGE WAS DONE TO THE NOSE GEAR. THE RUNWAY WAS SNOW COVERED AND THE ROAD WAS SHOWING GRAVEL FROM VEHICLE USE.