- Date
- September 2, 2002, 16:00 local (Sep 3, 2002, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Seward, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N9808XCessna 185
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 25, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA-AL-ANC FSDO 03
- FAA report
- 20020902027039A
- Case key
- 55816
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
A loss of directional control of the airplane due to the failure of the pilot to correct for torque/P Factor during the takeoff roll. A factor in the accident was a wet grass surface.
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 commercial certificated pilot was departing a remote grass-covered airstrip in a tundra tire-equipped airplane. The airstrip is oriented northeast/southwest, and is about 800 feet long by about 30 feet wide. The pilot said that he taxied to the end of the airstrip to depart toward the southwest. He applied full power and the airplane began to veer to the left. He said he attempted to correct the left turn by application of the right brake, but the airplane slid on the wet grass surface of the runway. The left wing struck the top of a small tree along the left side of the airstrip. The pilot indicated the airplane continued in a left arc, off the left side of the runway, and collided with a large tree. The airplane received damage to the left wing, fuselage, engine motor mounts, and propeller.
Factual narrative
On September 2, 2002, about 1600 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire-equipped Cessna 185 airplane, N9808X, sustained substantial damage when it collided with trees during the takeoff roll from a remote airstrip, about 58 miles east of Seward, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the pilot, with an intended destination of Merrill Field, Anchorage, Alaska. The commercial certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. No flight plan was filed, nor was one required.
On October 1, 2002, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) personnel notified the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) that the accident airplane received damage during takeoff from a grass-covered airstrip on Montague Island.
During a telephone conversation with the NTSB IIC on October 2, the pilot reported that he was departing an old Forest Service airstrip located at Patton Bay on Montague Island for a flight to Merrill Field. The airstrip is oriented northeast/southwest, and is about 800 feet long by about 30 feet wide. The pilot said that he taxied to the end of the airstrip to depart toward the southwest. He applied full power and the airplane began to veer to the left. He said he attempted to correct the left turn by application of the right brake, but the airplane slid on the wet grass surface of the runway. The left wing struck the top of a small tree along the left side of the airstrip. The pilot indicated the airplane continued in a left arc, off the left side of the runway, and collided with a large tree. The airplane received damage to the left wing, fuselage, engine motor mounts, and propeller.
The pilot reported the wind at the time of the accident was from the north at 10 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9808X
- Reported as
- Cessna 185
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1850008
- Airframe hours
- 4,550
- Engine
- Continental IO-470F, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Roger O. Hackett
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 31, 2002 · 37 hours before
- Departed
- Montague Island, AK
- Destination
- PAMR · Anchorage, 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
- 54
- 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
- June 17, 2001
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,200 total · 37 in this make and model · 1,200 as pilot in command · 37 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 50 °F
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 N9808X · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.