- Date
- June 24, 2001, 10:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Petersburg, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N61ATArctic S-1B2
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 21, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20010624039319A
- Case key
- 53202
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 selection of an unsuitable landing area. A factor associated with the accident was soft 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 certificated private pilot was landing a tailwheel-equipped airplane on a sand-covered beach. During the landing roll the main landing gear wheels contacted an area of soft sand, and the airplane nosed down. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing lift strut.
Factual narrative
On June 24, 2001, about 1000 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped Arctic Aircraft S-1B2 airplane, N61AT, sustained substantial damage while landing at an off airport site, about 30 miles north of Petersburg, Alaska. The certificated private pilot, and the one passenger aboard, were not injured. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated about 0930, from the Petersburg Airport, Petersburg.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on June 25, the pilot reported that during the landing roll on a sand-covered beach, the main landing gear wheels contacted an area of soft sand, and the airplane nosed down. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing lift strut.
The pilot reported there were no preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N61AT
- Reported as
- Arctic S-1B2
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1012
- Airframe hours
- 1,847
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- David W. Cushing
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 7, 2000 · 34.5 hours before
- Departed
- PSG · Petersburg, AK
- Destination
- PSG · Petersburg, AK
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
- 56
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- July 15, 1999
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 787 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Temperature
- 50 °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 N61AT · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.