ANC01LA096

The air taxi pilot was attempting to takeoff from a remote airstrip. During the takeoff roll, he allowed the airplane's left wing to collide with brush, sustaining substantial damage.

On July 30, 2001, about 1530 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna U206 airplane, N5371U, received substantial damage during takeoff from the Dry Bay airstrip, located about 45 miles east of Yakutat, Alaska. The commercial air taxi pilot and the 4 passengers were not injured. The on-demand charter flight was operated under CFR Part 135 by Gulf Air Taxi, Yakutat. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a company flight plan was in effect. The flight departed Yakutat about 1445, and was returning to Yakutat.

During a telephone interview with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on August 1, the owner of the company indicated that the airplane's left wing struck willows during takeoff and damaged the leading edge. A subsequent conversation with an FAA inspector from the Juneau Flight Standards District Office, who traveled to Yakutat and looked at the airplane, disclosed that approximately 3 feet of the left wing's leading edge was damaged, with at least one nose rib crushed. The FAA inspector indicated the operator intended to repair the crushed rib by replacing it, and that a new section of leading edge skin, from the left wing lift-strut to the wingtip, would be used to complete the repairs.