- Date
- August 18, 2001, 16:00 local (Aug 19, 2001, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Glennallen, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N677DTFreeman Glastar
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 25, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20010819039889A
- Case key
- 54924
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 abort the landing. Factors associated with the accident were the pilot's selection of an unsuitable landing area, and his failure to attain a proper touchdown point. An additional factor was a tailwind.
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 commercial pilot, with one passenger aboard, was landing on a 675 feet long off airport site, in an experimental, homebuilt airplane. Due to obstructions at the south end of the site, the pilot landed to the south, and downwind. As the airplane's main wheels touched down on the rough gravel surface, the airplane bounced. The pilot recovered from the bounce, and flew further down the runway and landed about midfield on the site. During the landing roll, while applying heavy braking, the airplane went off the end of the site, and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer and rudder.
Factual narrative
On August 18, 2001, about 1600 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped Freeman Glastar, an experimental, homebuilt airplane, N677DT, sustained substantial damage during landing at an off airport site, about 22 miles northwest of Glennallen, Alaska. The certificated commercial pilot, and the one passenger, 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 a VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated about 1545, from the Gulkana Airport, Gulkana, Alaska.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on August 29, the pilot reported that he was landing to the south on a 675 feet long, uphill site. He added that due to obstructions at the south end of the site, he had to land to the south, and downwind. He said that as the airplane's main wheels touched down on the rough gravel surface, the airplane bounced. He recovered from the bounce, and flew further down the runway and landed about midfield on the site. He said that during the landing roll, while applying heavy braking, the airplane went off the end of the site, and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer and rudder.
The pilot said that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N677DT
- Reported as
- Freeman Glastar
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1
- Airframe hours
- 333.5
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Matthew D. Freeman
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- GUK · Gulkana, AK
- Destination
- TKJ · Tok, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- Chelle Lake Airstrip, runway 18, 675 × 12 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
- 44
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Expired
- Last flight review
- May 30, 2001
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,708 total · 327 in this make and model · 1,628 as pilot in command · 115 in the last 90 days · 17 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 3 knots, gusting 10
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 61 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.