- Date
- May 31, 2001, 12:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Wasilla, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N8054XCessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 20, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA-AL-ANC FSDO 03
- FAA report
- 20010531040029A
- Case key
- 52389
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
An undershoot due to the pilot's failure to maintain a proper glide path during a VFR final approach to landing. A factor in the accident was a downdraft.
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 planning a full-stop landing at a private airstrip. The gravel runway is 2,200 feet long and 40 feet wide. The final approach path to the runway threshold is over a small pond. The pilot said her first landing approach was too steep, and she did a go-around. On the second approach, about 50 to 100 feet lower than the normal approach path, the airplane encountered a downdraft over the pond, and the pilot added engine power. The airplane continued to descend and touched down on the main landing gear, about 300 feet short of the runway threshold. The nose wheel collapsed when it contacted the ground. The pilot said the cockpit immediately filled with smoke, and she exited the airplane via the right door. The airplane fuselage was consumed by fire.
Factual narrative
On May 31, 2001, about 1200 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 172 airplane, N8054X, was destroyed by a postimpact fire after landing short of the runway at the Anderson Lake Airstrip, about 3.5 miles north-northeast of Wasilla, Alaska. 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 private certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the Birchwood Airport, Chugiak, Alaska, about 1130.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on May 31st, the pilot reported that she was planning a full-stop landing on runway 08 at the Anderson Lake airstrip. The private airstrip has a gravel runway that is 2,200 feet long and 40 feet wide. The final approach path to the runway threshold is over a small pond. The pilot said her first landing approach was too steep, and she did a go-around. On the second approach, about 50 to 100 feet lower than the normal approach path, the airplane encountered a downdraft over the pond, and the pilot added engine power. The airplane continued to descend and touched down on the main landing gear, about 300 feet short of the runway threshold. The nose wheel collapsed when it contacted the ground. The pilot said the cockpit immediately filled with smoke, and she exited the airplane via the right door. The airplane fuselage was consumed by fire.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8054X
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17248554
- Airframe hours
- 2,054
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Sherry L. Pinckley
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 27, 2000 · 15 hours before
- Departed
- PABV · Chugiak, AK
- Destination
- 0AK1 · Wasilla, AK
- Airport
- 0AK1 · Anderson Lake Strip, runway 08, 2,200 × 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
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- April 27, 2001
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 350 total · 320 in this make and model · 150 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 45° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.86 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.