# NTSB ANC03LA101: Cloud-Wag Aero Sportsmen, N35CL, Noatak, AK, August 23, 2003 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: August 22, 2003, 21:30 local (Aug 23, 2003, 05:30 UTC) - Place: Noatak, AK - Coordinates: 67.800003, -162.916671 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=67.8000&lon=-162.9167&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 2 uninjured - Status: Completed, report March 2, 2004 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office - Parties: FAA, Fairbanks Flight Standards District Office - NTSB case key (mKey): 57764 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC03LA101 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/57764/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC03LA101 ## Probable cause The pilot's misjudgment of the airplane's distance and speed, which resulted in the airplane not attaining the proper landing touchdown point and overrunning the landing site. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Overrun, landing - roll - distance/speed - misjudged, pilot in command (cause) - proper touchdown point - not attained, pilot in command - On ground/water encounter with terrain/water, landing - roll - terrain condition - high vegetation - terrain condition - soft - Main gear collapsed, landing - roll ## Analysis The pilot reported he was landing his homebuilt tailwheel airplane at a remote, off-airport site. He said he made the landing approach too high and too fast, and the airplane touched down farther down the site than he intended. He was unable to stop it before it overran the end of the landing site and encountered brush and soft terrain. The main landing gear subsequently collapsed, and the airplane received structural damage to the left wing. ## Factual narrative On August 22, 2003, about 2130 Alaska daylight time, a tailwheel-equipped Cloud-Wag Aero Sportsmen homebuilt airplane, N35CL, sustained substantial damage when the airplane overran an off-airport site during landing, and the main landing gear collapsed. The accident site was approximately 10 miles north of Noatak, Alaska. The private pilot and sole passenger were not injured. The Title 14, CFR Part 91 personal flight operated in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The flight departed Kotzebue, Alaska, about 2100, and the destination was the off-airport site. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge (IIC) on August 25, at 0700, the pilot related that he and the passenger were on a hunting trip. He said he was landing to the west on the 500 to 600 foot long site, and made the landing approach too high and too fast. He indicated that the airplane touched down too far down the runway, and he couldn't stop it before it went off the end of the site, encountered brush and soft terrain, and the main landing gear collapsed. The pilot reported that in addition to the main landing gear, the left wing was damaged, and the left aileron would not function after the accident. He said he was unaware of any preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N35CL](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N35CL), registered now, S/N 353, built 1989 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cloud-Wag Aero Sportsmen - Registry model: [Cloud C L WAG-AERO 2+2](https://openairdocs.org/model/cloud-c-l-wag-aero-2-plus-2) (registry code 0569158) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Lycoming O-320-A2B](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-o-320-a2b) (registry code 42101, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane, amateur-built - Serial number: 353 - Airframe hours: 460 - Engines: Lycoming O-320-A2B 150 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: Zebulon R. Scherer - Airworthiness certificate: Special, Experimental (Special) - Last inspection: Condition, May 1, 2003, 26 hours before - Departed: OTZ, KOTZEBUE, AK - Destination: Noatak, AK ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 22; injuries: none; medical: class 3, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; last flight review April 1, 2002; seat: front; flight hours: 250 total, 157 in this make and model, 205 as pilot in command, 21 in the last 90 days, 14 in the last 30 days, 1 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Dusk - Wind: calm - Visibility: 5 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 1,500 ft overcast - Temperature: 48 °F ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20030822035149A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20030822035149A), Aug 22, 2003: Amtr WAGARO2+2, Noatak, AK, Substantial damage. (-23) Pilot stated that he was landing on a 500 to 600 foot long landing area about 10 miles north of the village of Noatak, AK. It was about 2200 local time… From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.