- Date
- June 13, 2002, 11:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Talkeetna, AK
- Injuries
- 7 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N62197de Havilland DHC-2
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 30, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20020613012809A
- Case key
- 54971
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 taxi area, which resulted in substantial damage to the left elevator when the tailwheel encountered a hole. A factor associated with the accident was rough/uneven 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 commercial pilot reported that after an uneventful glacier landing, he wanted to reposition the airplane to an area that was better suited for unloading his passengers. As he taxied the airplane up the glacier, the airplane's tailwheel entered a hole in the hard-packed snow, and the left elevator horn dug into the snow. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left elevator. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On June 13, 2002, about 1100 Alaska daylight time, a wheel/ski-equipped de Havilland DHC-2 airplane, N62197, sustained substantial damage when it encountered rough terrain while taxiing after landing at an off-airport site. The accident site was on the Tokositna Glacier, 30 miles northwest of Talkeetna, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) on-demand charter flight under Title 14, CFR Part 135, when the accident occurred. The airplane was registered to Gattis Aircraft, Inc., and operated by Doug Geeting Aviation, Talkeetna. The certificated commercial pilot, and the six passengers, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a company flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the Talkeetna Airport, Talkeetna, about 1015.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on June 15, the pilot reported that after an uneventful glacier landing, he wanted to reposition the airplane to an area that was better suited for unloading his passengers. He said that as he taxied the airplane up the glacier, the airplane's tailwheel entered a hole in the hard-packed snow, and the left elevator horn dug into the snow. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left elevator.
The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N62197
- Reported as
- de Havilland DHC-2
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 560419
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney R-985, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Doug Geeting Avaition
- Registered owner
- Gattis Aircraft
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- TKA · Talkeetna, AK
- Destination
- TKA · Talkeetna, AK
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
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
- 43
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- March 31, 2002
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,500 total · 600 in this make and model · 2,000 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 50 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Temperature
- 68 °F
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 8, 2003, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 515 KB in all.
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 N62197 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.