# NTSB ANC00LA115: Cessna 207, N9874M, Kongiganak, AK, September 6, 2000 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: September 6, 2000, 11:30 local (19:30 UTC) - Place: Kongiganak, AK - Coordinates: 63.029182, -163.539199 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=63.0292&lon=-163.5392&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report July 2, 2001 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office - NTSB case key (mKey): 50989 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC00LA115 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/50989/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC00LA115 ## Probable cause The pilot's selection of an unsuitable, rough, runway. Factors were the crosswind, the pilot's inexperience, the company's inadequate surveillance of their operation, and dispatch of an inexperienced pilot to the unsuitable airport. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - On ground/water encounter with terrain/water, landing - roll - airport facilities,runway/landing area condition - rough/uneven (contributing factor) - unsuitable terrain or takeoff/landing/taxi area - selected, pilot in command (cause) - lack of total experience in type operation, pilot in command (contributing factor) - weather condition - crosswind (contributing factor) - dispatch - information insufficient, company/operator management (contributing factor) - inadequate surveillance of operation, company/operator mgmt (contributing factor) - Loss of control - on ground/water, landing - roll - directional control - not possible, pilot in command ## Analysis The pilot, and a witness, estimated the winds to be from 270 degrees, gusting to 25 knots. After touchdown, the airplane hit a rut, bounced, and became airborne. The right wing came up, and the airplane departed the left side of the 1,880 feet long by 35 feet wide gravel runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot, the witness, and company personnel, described the runway condition as extremely potholed and unsuitable. The Alaska Supplement states, in part: 'CAUTION: Rwy condition not monitored, recommend visual inspection prior to using. Rwy rough full length.' The company was concerned about the runway, but had not inspected it prior to the accident. The company terminated operations to the airport after the accident. This was the pilot's first revenue flight in Alaska, and for the company, and his first flight to this airport. ## Factual narrative On September 6, 2000, about 1130 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 207 airplane, N9874M, sustained substantial damage during landing at the Kongiganak Airport, Kongiganak, Alaska. The solo commercial pilot was not injured. The flight was operated by Alaska Central Express, Inc., of Anchorage, Alaska. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 135 as an on-demand cargo flight transporting mail. The flight departed Bethel, Alaska, at 1115 for the accident site. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a VFR flight plan was filed. The pilot told the NTSB investigator-in-charge during a telephone interview on September 6, that he was landing on runway 18. He estimated the winds to be from 270 degrees gusting to 25 knots. After touchdown, the airplane hit a rut, bounced, and became airborne. The right wing came up, and the airplane departed the left side of the 1,880 feet long by 35 feet wide gravel runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot of another airplane observed the accident from the ramp area. He described a normal approach and touchdown, and a right crosswind gusting to 25 knots. He indicated the airplane contacted a water-filled rut and bounced. The right wing lifted, and the wind pushed the airplane off the left side of the runway. Postaccident inspection of the runway by the company resulted in termination of company services to the airport. The director of operations told the NTSB IIC that the company was concerned about the runway, but had not inspected it prior to the accident. The pilot, the witness, and the company's director of operations, described the runway condition as extremely potholed, and unsuitable. The Alaska Supplement states, in part: "CAUTION: Rwy condition not monitored, recommend visual inspection prior to using. Rwy rough full length." The runway is not maintained by the State of Alaska, and the state and the community do not receive Federal funding for runway maintenance. This was the pilot's first revenue flight in Alaska, and for the company, and his first flight to this airport. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N9874M](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N9874M-2024-08-27), registration cancelled 2024-08-27, S/N 20700745, built 1981 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cessna 207 - Registry model: [Cessna 207A](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-207a) (registry code 2073605) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental IO-520-F](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-520-f) (registry code 17237, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 20700745 - Airframe hours: 13225 - Engines: Continental IO-520F 300 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Part 135 - Registered owner: Alaska Central Express, Inc. - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: AAIP, September 5, 2000, 2 hours before - Departed: BET, BETHEL, AK - Destination: DUY - Flight plan: VFR - Airport: DUY, Kongiganak, runway 18, 1,880 × 35 ft, gravel ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 31; commercial; airplane ratings: single-engine land, multi-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; seat: left; flight hours: 517 total, 17 in this make and model, 439 as pilot in command, 56 in the last 90 days, 17 in the last 30 days, 2 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 300° at 12 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 3,600 ft broken - Temperature: 45 °F, dew point 39 °F - Altimeter: 29.00 inHg - Observed at: BET, 14 nm away ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20000906042689A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20000906042689A), Sep 6, 2000: Cessna 207A, Kongiganak, AK, Substantial damage. (-23) The pilot circled the field before landing and judged the runway to be safe for landing. On landing roll out the airplane hit deep ruts that were not… ## Other investigations on N9874M (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB ANC12CA048](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC12CA048), Jun 7, 2012: Cessna 207A (N9874M), Platinum, AK, substantial damage. Probable cause: The pilot inadvertently taxied the airplane into a ditch. From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.