- Date
- August 16, 2000, 20:30 local (Aug 17, 2000, 04:30 UTC)
- Place
- Chenega Bay, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N78635Piper PA-11
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 6, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 20000817042599A
- Case key
- 50983
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate lookout. Factors involved in this accident were sunglare, and a tall bush next to the airstrip.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot stated he had established a long, flat, final approach to land on the 1000 feet long by 40 feet wide airstrip. He stated there was a strong crosswind from the right, and the sun was low and glaring off the water. He indicated that 10 feet above the airstrip the propeller contacted a single tall bush which he had not seen. He said the airplane stopped flying, spun around, and came to rest on the airstrip. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing, and the empennage.
Factual narrative
On August 16, 2000, about 2030 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire equipped Piper PA-11 airplane, N78635, sustained substantial damage when it contacted brush during landing at the MacLeod Harbor Airstrip, Montague Island, Alaska, at 59 degrees, 52.3 minutes north latitude, 147 degrees, 45.11 minutes west longitude. The solo private pilot was not injured. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91, as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a VFR flight plan was filed.
During a telephone interview with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on August 17, the pilot stated he had established a long, flat, final approach to land on the 1000 feet long by 40 feet wide airstrip. He stated there was a strong crosswind from the right, and the sun was low and glaring off the water. He indicated that 10 feet above the airstrip the propeller contacted a single tall bush which he had not seen. He said the airplane stopped flying, spun around, and came to rest on the airstrip. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing, and the empennage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N78635
- Reported as
- Piper PA-11
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 11-1396
- Airframe hours
- 8,064
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290-17, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Joseph G. Hepler
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 1, 2000 · 73 hours before
- Departed
- Z41 · Anchorage, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- Macleod Harbor Airstrip, runway 27, 1,000 × 40 ft, gravel
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 61
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 855 total · 825 in this make and model · 825 as pilot in command · 34 in the last 90 days · 16 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 10 knots, gusting 12
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N78635 · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.