ANC01LA015

The commercial certificated pilot reported he is conducting research at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. As part of his research, the pilot was conducting a survey of caribou. The pilot said he landed on the surface of a frozen lake in a tundra tire equipped airplane, and was taxiing toward the shore. As the airplane neared the shoreline, the airplane tires broke through the ice. The airplane received damage to the right landing gear strut, and the right wing lift strut was bent.

On November 7, 2000, about 1430 Alaska standard time, a tundra tire equipped Piper PA-18 airplane, N24149, sustained substantial damage while taxiing after landing on a remote lake, about 22 miles north of White Mountain, Alaska, about latitude 64 degrees, 59.4 minutes north, and longitude 163 degrees, 55.0 minutes west. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country personal flight when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the pilot. The commercial certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. A VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the Nome Airport, Nome, Alaska, about 1130.

During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on November 8, 2000, the pilot reported he is conducting research at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and as part of that research, he was surveying caribou in the Fish River Flats area near the Arathlatuluk River. The pilot said he landed on the surface of a frozen lake, and was taxiing toward the shore. As the airplane neared the shoreline, the airplane tires broke through the ice. The airplane received damage to the right landing gear strut and the right wing lift strut.

The pilot did not submit a Pilot/Operator report (NTSB form 6120.1/2).