- Date
- June 7, 2002, 16:30 local (Jun 8, 2002, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Kaktovik, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N749Cessna 185
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 25, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR, O.A.S.
- FAA report
- 20020607010749A
- Case key
- 54887
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
The pilot's inadequate evaluation of the weather conditions during landing at a remote lake, resulting in a downwind landing. Factors contributing to the accident were the presence of a tailwind, and an icy lake surface.
Analysis
The commercial certificated pilot was landing a wheel/ski-equipped airplane on a remote ice-covered lake. He was concluding a public use caribou tracking flight. The pilot estimated there was about 1,500 feet of usable landing area. The pilot landed toward the west with the skis extended, but began sliding on the icy surface toward an area of open water along the shore of the lake. The pilot initiated a left turn and applied engine power. The airplane's right wing and right elevator struck the ice. The airplane received damage to the right wingtip, right aileron, and the right elevator. After landing, the pilot discovered the wind was from the east about 7 knots.
Factual narrative
On June 7, 2002, about 1630 Alaska daylight time, a wheel/ski-equipped Cessna 185 airplane, N749, sustained substantial damage when the right wing struck the ice-covered surface of a remote lake during the landing roll, about 45 miles southwest of Kaktovik, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) local area public use flight when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fairbanks, Alaska. The commercial certificated pilot, and the sole passenger, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. A VFR flight plan was filed.
During a telephone conversation with the NTSB IIC, on June 10, an investigator with the U.S. Department of Interior, Office of Aircraft Services, Boise, Idaho, reported that the pilot was landing toward the west on a remote lake at the conclusion of a caribou tracking flight. The pilot estimated there was about 1,500 feet of usable landing area. The pilot landed with the skis extended, and began sliding on the icy surface toward an area of open water near the shore. The investigator reported that the pilot initiated a left turn and applied engine power. The airplane's right wing and right elevator struck the ice. The airplane received damage to the right wingtip, right aileron, and the right elevator. After landing, the pilot discovered the wind was from the east about 7 knots.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N749
- Reported as
- Cessna 185
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18504354
- Airframe hours
- 7,680
- Engine
- Continental IO-520, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Public aircraft · Public use
- Operator
- U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service
- Registered owner
- U.S. Department Of Interior
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 8, 2002 · 81 hours before
- Departed
- PABA · Kaktovik, AK
- Destination
- Canning River, AK
- Flight plan
- 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
- 51
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- April 10, 2002
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 7,300 total · 4,000 in this make and model · 7,200 as pilot in command · 43 in the last 90 days · 40 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.20 inHg
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 25, 2002, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 693 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.