# NTSB ANC01LA110: Cessna 150, N11361, Delta Junction, AK, August 8, 2001

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · Serious injuries · Limited investigation · Final report
- Date: August 8, 2001, 10:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place: Delta Junction, AK
- Coordinates: 64.483329, -146.633331
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=64.4833&lon=-146.6333&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Highest injury: Serious injuries
- Injuries: 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Status: Completed, report July 15, 2002
- Report: Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office
- Parties: FAA, Flight Standards
- NTSB case key (mKey): 54371
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC01LA110
- NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/54371/pdf
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC01LA110

## Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll.  A factor associated with the accident is rough and uneven terrain at the off-airport landing site.

## Sequence of events

In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf).

- Loss of control - on ground/water, landing - roll
  - directional control - not maintained, pilot in command (cause)
- On ground/water encounter with terrain/water, landing - roll
  - terrain condition - rough/uneven (contributing factor)

## Analysis

The pilot reported he was landing his tailwheel configured airplane at an off airport landing site.  During the landing roll, he allowed the right main landing gear tire to enter a ditch.  The airplane was pulled deeper into the ditch, and received substantial damage.

## Factual narrative

On August 8, 2001, about 2230 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped Cessna 150 airplane, N11361, received substantial damage while landing on a gravel bar on the Salcha river, located about 35 miles northwest of Delta Junction, Alaska.  The private pilot received serious injuries; the sole passenger was not injured.  The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight departed Delta Junction about 2130, and operated in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan.  The destination was the Salcha river.

During a telephone interview with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on August 14, the pilot related he was taking his son on a hunting trip in the vicinity of the Salcha river.  He noted his Cessna 150 had been modified with a 180 horsepower Lycoming engine, and had been converted to a tailwheel configuration.  He said he selected a gravel bar to land on, and that during the landing roll, as he applied maximum braking, the airplane went to the right and into a ditch.  He said he broke his right arm during the crash, and that there were no preimpact mechanical problems with the airplane.

## Aircraft

- Registration: [N11361](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N11361-2020-05-29), registration cancelled 2020-05-29, S/N 15075352, built 1973 (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: Cessna 150
- Registry model: [Cessna 150L](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-150l) (registry code 2071826) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: [Continental 0-200 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-0-200-series) (registry code 17020, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs)
- Category: Airplane
- Serial number: 15075352
- Airframe hours: 3049
- Engines: Lycoming O-360-A1A 180 horsepower reciprocating
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Flight: Personal, Part 91
- Registered owner: Donald W. Bunselmeier
- Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal
- Last inspection: Annual, August 23, 2000, 44 hours before
- Departed: Delta Junction, AK
- Destination: Delta Junction, AK

## Flight crew

As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.

- Pilot; age 48; injuries: serious; private; airplane ratings: single-engine sea, single-engine land; medical: class 3, valid medical--w/ waivers/lim; last flight review August 3, 1999; seat: left; flight hours: 5,700 total, 1,200 in this make and model, 15 in the last 90 days, 14 in the last 30 days, 3 in the last 24 hours

## Weather

- Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day
- Wind: 270° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling: none
- Temperature: 68 °F

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

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