- Date
- June 9, 2003, 11:45 local (19:45 UTC)
- Place
- Talkeetna, AK
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N5246ECessna 185
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 25, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA, Anchorage Flight Standards
- FAA report
- 20030609012299A
- Case key
- 57184
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 excessive taxi speed while attempting to turn the airplane in soft snow, which resulted in a nose over. A factor in the accident was soft snow.
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 pilot of the wheel ski-equipped airplane was attempting to takeoff down-slope from a remote mountain glacier airstrip for an air taxi sightseeing flight . The pilot reported that the snow on the runway was fresh and wet, which slowed the airplane's acceleration. He said he elected to abort the takeoff because of the airplane's slow acceleration and low airspeed. Following the aborted takeoff, he initiated a left turn to return to the top of the airstrip for another takeoff attempt. As the airplane turned, the pilot said it felt like the right main landing gear wheel ski encountered a soft spot or sink hole, and sank deeper into the snow. As soon the as the ski sank, the airplane nosed over. The airplane received structural damage to the fuselage and right wing. A national park ranger who flew to the accident scene reported that it appeared that the airplane's tailwheel-ski never touched down before the left turn was initiated. He said the proper procedure for an aborted takeoff on the glacier is to come to a complete stop going straight, deplane the passengers, make the turn up-slope, and then taxi back for takeoff.
Factual narrative
On June 9, 2003, about 1145 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-ski equipped Cessna 185 airplane, N5246E, operated by Talkeetna Air Taxi, Talkeetna, Alaska, as a Title 14, CFR Part 135 sightseeing flight, received substantial damage when it nosed over during an aborted takeoff from the Mountain House airstrip on the Ruth Glacier, located in the Denali National Park, and about 30 miles north-northwest of Talkeetna, Alaska. The airline transport pilot received minor injuries; the four passengers were not injured. The flight operated in day visual meteorological conditions, and company flight following procedures were in effect. The local flight departed Talkeetna about 1145, for a sightseeing flight in the vicinity of Mount McKinley.
During a telephone conversation with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on June 10, the pilot related that he was attempting a down-slope takeoff from the glacier air strip. He described the snow as fresh and wet, which slowed the airplane's acceleration. He said he elected to abort the takeoff because of the slow acceleration and low airspeed. As the airplane approached the end of the takeoff area, he initiated a turn to the left, to return up-slope to the takeoff area. As the airplane entered the turn, he said it felt like the right wheel-ski encountered a soft spot, or perhaps a sink hole, and sank deeper into the snow. He said as soon as the wheel-ski sank, the airplane nosed over. The airplane received structural damage to the fuselage and right wing.
On June 10, a federal park ranger flew to the accident site and observed the airplane upside down, and facing up-slope, in the opposite direction of the takeoff run. An excerpt from his written report notes:
It was observed that the tail wheel had not touched down before the plane flipped. The accident appeared to have been triggered as soon the plane started to turn. The accepted procedure when you cannot take off on a glacier is:
1. Come to a complete stop going straight.
2. Unload the passengers.
3. Make the turn.
4. Taxi back up with or without the passengers.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5246E
- Reported as
- Cessna 185
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18503943
- Airframe hours
- 9,192
- Engine
- Continental IO-520, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Talkeetna Air Taxi Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · June 1, 2003 · 27 hours before
- Departed
- TKA · Talkeetna, AK
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- Mountain House
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
- 56
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- April 24, 2003
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 5,000 total · 400 in this make and model · 4,800 as pilot in command · 200 in the last 90 days · 50 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 54 °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 N5246E · 4
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.