- Date
- August 6, 2003, 07:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Iliamna, AK
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N185TBCessna 185
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 25, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 20030806037129A
- Case key
- 57646
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 failure to maintain clearance during takeoff, which resulted in an in-flight collision with 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 private pilot was departing from a remote lake in a float-equipped airplane. During the initial climb, the airplane's right float struck the shoreline of the lake. The airplane subsequently nosed over on the bank of the lake, and sustained substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On August 6, 2003, about 0700 Alaska daylight time, a float-equipped Cessna 185 airplane, N185TB, sustained substantial damage when it struck the shoreline of a remote lake during takeoff, about 35 miles south of Iliamna, 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 private certificated pilot, and the two passengers, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the accident lake about 0655 and was en route to another remote lake. No flight plan was filed.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on August 6, the pilot reported that while departing to the east, during the initial climb, the airplane's right float struck the shoreline of the lake. The airplane subsequently nosed over on the bank of the lake, and sustained substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage.
According to the pilot there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N185TB
- Reported as
- Cessna 185
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18504008
- Engine
- Continental IO-520, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Thomas K. Brown
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- ILI · Iliamna, AK
- Destination
- ILI · Iliamna, 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
- 63
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 1,250 total · 900 in this make and model · 30 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.