- Date
- March 4, 2001, 17:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Salcha, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N22NTaylorcraft 19
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 6, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA-AL-FAI FSDO 01
- FAA report
- 20010304003079A
- Case key
- 51878
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 compensate for a tailwind during takeoff, and his delay in aborting the takeoff. Factors in the accident were a tailwind, and snow-covered terrain.
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 private certificated pilot was departing a private airstrip in a wheel-equipped airplane. The snow-covered airstrip, oriented north/south, was 2,000 feet long, and 20 feet wide. The pilot said he began his takeoff roll toward the south, but the airplane had not become airborne by the time the airplane had traveled about two thirds of the airstrip's length. The pilot said he aborted the takeoff, but he could not stop the airplane before it went off the end of the airstrip into deep snow. The airplane nosed over and received damage to the vertical stabilizer, the rudder, the left wing lift strut, and the right wingtip. After the accident, the pilot said he noticed a 5 to 7 mph tailwind from the northeast.
Factual narrative
On March 4, 2001, about 1730 Alaska standard time, a wheel equipped Taylorcraft 19 airplane, N22N, sustained substantial damage during an aborted takeoff from a private airstrip about 2 1/2 miles southeast of Salcha, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the pilot. The private certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on March 5, 2001, the pilot reported that he has a private airstrip at Hartman Lake. He flew to the lake earlier in the day to improve the snow-covered airstrip, and was departing when the accident occurred. The airstrip, oriented north/south, is 2,000 feet long, and 20 feet wide. The pilot said he began his takeoff roll toward the south, but the airplane had not become airborne by the time the airplane had traveled about two thirds of the airstrip's length. The pilot said he aborted the takeoff, but he could not stop the airplane before it went off the end of the airstrip into deep snow. The airplane nosed over and received damage to the vertical stabilizer, the rudder, the left wing lift strut, and the right wingtip. After the accident, the pilot said he noticed a 5 to 7 mph tailwind from the northeast.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N22N
- Reported as
- Taylorcraft 19
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 4-13022
- Engine
- Continental C-85, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- James F. Schaff
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Salcha, AK
- Destination
- 95Z · North Pole, AK
- Airport
- Hartman Lake Strip, runway 18, 2,000 × 20 ft
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
- 53
- Injuries
- None
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- December 6, 2000
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 815 total · 12 in this make and model · 14 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 45° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.70 inHg
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 N22N · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.