ANC02LA111

The private certificated pilot was landing a tundra tire-equipped airplane on a remote gravel bar. During the landing roll, the right main landing gear tire struck a small berm about 300 feet after touchdown. The airplane veered to the right and struck a second berm. The right main landing gear separated from the fuselage, and the airplane received damage to the right wing, right aileron, and the right elevator.

On August 31, 2002, about 1930 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire-equipped Cessna 185E airplane, N7SR, sustained substantial damage during landing on a remote gravel bar, when it struck a berm, about 55 miles northeast of Sparrevohn, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a Title 14, CFR Part 91 visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country personal flight when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the pilot. The private certificated pilot, and the sole passenger, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated from an airstrip at Scott Lake, Wasilla, Alaska, about 1730.

On September 1, 2002, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) personnel notified the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), that the accident airplane pilot relayed a message via an over-flying airplane, indicating that the airplane was disabled on a gravel bar along the Stoney River.

On September 3, in a telephone conversation with the NTSB IIC, the pilot reported that during the landing roll on a gravel bar toward the northwest, the right main landing gear tire struck a small berm about 300 feet after touchdown. The airplane veered to the right and struck a second berm. The right main landing gear separated from the fuselage, and the airplane received damage to the right wing, right aileron, and the right elevator. The pilot indicated the gravel bar was about 1,000 feet long.