What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
Port Heiden, AK (pth) : N4734U, C180, initially reported as poss acft accident on beach sw of pth; cdb fss rec'd sat phone call from fishing vessel saw acft circle to land. After landing on beach approx 26 miles sw of pth... Vessel then rpt'd seeing four people walking around, no sign of distress or attempts made to signal the fishing vessel; info passed to rcc & USCG... @ 0716Z; zan received call from the pilot and reported gear failure while taxiing on beach; and the acft was then swept away in tide;
Pilots statement: I had flown to king salmon the night before and spent the night. We left early morning about 8 am and traveled south west stopping a couple of times on the beaches for beachcombing. The third time we landed, again without incident, at the low tide mark and slowed the aircraft down. As I attempted to turn to the right to travel away from the low tide mark and get further up from the beach the left landing gear collapsed. There was no major damage to the aircraft except the landing gear, but we had no way to move the aircraft. I called my wife to arrange to have a helicopter come pick up my aircraft. A helicopter came and then we met in akn at 2030 hours. After a conversation with the helicopter pilot it was decided that we would go early in the morning to recover the aircraft. Upon our return at 0500 hrs we discovered that the tide had completely washed my aircraft out to sea. No recovery was accomplished. The aircraft was gone.
3 October 2018 - notified by the NTSB that aircraft accident was changed to a special occurrence, NTSB # ANC17SA036. The FAA has changed the accident to an incident as required.
As the FAA filed it
PORT HEIDEN, AK (PTH) : N4734U, C180, INITIALLY REPORTED AS POSS ACFT ACCIDENT ON BEACH SW OF PTH; CDB FSS REC'D SAT PHONE CALL FROM FISHING VESSEL SAW ACFT CIRCLE TO LAND. AFTER LANDING ON BEACH APPROX 26 MILES SW OF PTH... VESSEL THEN RPT'D SEEING FOUR PEOPLE WALKING AROUND, NO SIGN OF DISTRESS OR ATTEMPTS MADE TO SIGNAL THE FISHING VESSEL; INFO PASSED TO RCC & USCG... @ 0716Z; ZAN RECEIVED CALL FROM THE PILOT AND REPORTED GEAR FAILURE WHILE TAXIING ON BEACH; AND THE ACFT WAS THEN SWEPT AWAY IN TIDE;
PILOTS STATEMENT: I HAD FLOWN TO KING SALMON THE NIGHT BEFORE AND SPENT THE NIGHT. WE LEFT EARLY MORNING ABOUT 8 AM AND TRAVELED SOUTH WEST STOPPING A COUPLE OF TIMES ON THE BEACHES FOR BEACHCOMBING. THE THIRD TIME WE LANDED, AGAIN WITHOUT INCIDENT, AT THE LOW TIDE MARK AND SLOWED THE AIRCRAFT DOWN. AS I ATTEMPTED TO TURN TO THE RIGHT TO TRAVEL AWAY FROM THE LOW TIDE MARK AND GET FURTHER UP FROM THE BEACH THE LEFT LANDING GEAR COLLAPSED. THERE WAS NO MAJOR DAMAGE TO THE AIRCRAFT EXCEPT THE LANDING GEAR, BUT WE HAD NO WAY TO MOVE THE AIRCRAFT. I CALLED MY WIFE TO ARRANGE TO HAVE A HELICOPTER COME PICK UP MY AIRCRAFT. A HELICOPTER CAME AND THEN WE MET IN AKN AT 2030 HOURS. AFTER A CONVERSATION WITH THE HELICOPTER PILOT IT WAS DECIDED THAT WE WOULD GO EARLY IN THE MORNING TO RECOVER THE AIRCRAFT. UPON OUR RETURN AT 0500 HRS WE DISCOVERED THAT THE TIDE HAD COMPLETELY WASHED MY AIRCRAFT OUT TO SEA. NO RECOVERY WAS ACCOMPLISHED. THE AIRCRAFT WAS GONE.
3 OCTOBER 2018 - NOTIFIED BY THE NTSB THAT AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT WAS CHANGED TO A SPECIAL OCCURRENCE, NTSB # ANC17SA036. THE FAA HAS CHANGED THE ACCIDENT TO AN INCIDENT AS REQUIRED.
Other reports on N4734U · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.