- Date
- September 11, 2002, 13:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Tenakee Springs, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N180TMCessna 180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 25, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20020911026999A
- Case key
- 55764
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 takeoff area, which resulted in a nose over on takeoff roll. A factor associated with the accident was soft 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 solo commercial pilot was departing in the tundra-tire equipped airplane from a remote tidal beach. During the takeoff roll, the landing gear tires dug into the soft beach sand, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings, fuselage, and empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident anomalies with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On September 11, 2002, about 1330 Alaska daylight time, a tundra-tire equipped Cessna 180 airplane, N180TM, sustained substantial damage when the airplane nosed over during takeoff from a remote tidal beach site, located about 15 miles west of Tenakee Springs, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a local visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The solo commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the accident site, about 1325.
During a telephone conversation with a National Transportation Safety Board investigator on September 16, the pilot reported that due to incoming tidal water, he was attempting to reposition the accident airplane to another area of beach. He said that during the takeoff roll, the landing gear tires dug into the soft beach sand, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings, fuselage, and empennage.
The pilot reported that there were no preaccident anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N180TM
- Reported as
- Cessna 180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32674
- Airframe hours
- 3,900
- Engine
- Continental O-470, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Kenneth W. Marchbanks
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 1, 2002 · 200 hours before
- Departed
- TKE · Tenakee Springs, AK
- Destination
- TKE · Tenakee Springs, AK
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
- 52
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- October 1, 2000
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,100 total · 600 in this make and model · 1,950 as pilot in command · 60 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
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 N180TM · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.