- Date
- September 10, 2003, 18:00 local (Sep 11, 2003, 02:00 UTC)
- Place
- Chalkyitsik, AK
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N710MHCessna 206
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 28, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20030910037039A
- Case key
- 57920
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 inadequate compensation for wind conditions, and his failure to maintain adequate airspeed during takeoff, which resulted in an in-flight collision with brush, and subsequent stall of the airplane. Factors associated with the accident were a crosswind, high vegetation (brush), and an inadvertent stall.
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 pilot was departing from a 1,500 foot-long gravel-covered site, which required a correction for a strong right crosswind. Just after takeoff, the airplane drifted to the left, and the main landing gear wheels struck a stand of brush. The airplane subsequently descended towards an area of rough and uneven terrain. As the pilot was attempting to gain altitude, the airplane stalled, and the nose wheel struck a large ditch at the departure end of the site. The airplane nosed over, and sustained structural damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage. According to the company owner, there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On September 10, 2003, about 1800 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped Cessna 206 airplane, N710MH, operated by Circle Air, Central, Alaska, as a Title 14, CFR Part 135 on-demand charter flight, sustained substantial damage when it collided with an area of rough, uneven terrain and nosed over during an attempted takeoff from a remote off-airport site located about 100 miles northeast of Chalkyitsik, Alaska. The flight operated in day visual meteorological conditions, and company flight following procedures were in effect. Of the three people aboard, the commercial certificated pilot and one passenger received no injuries; the other passenger sustained a minor injury. The flight originated at the off-airport site, and was en route to the Circle Hot Springs Airport, Circle, Alaska.
In a written statement, the owner of the company reported that the pilot was departing from a 1,500 foot-long gravel-covered site, which required a correction for a strong right crosswind. She reported that just after takeoff, the airplane drifted to the left, and the main landing gear wheels struck a stand of brush, and the airplane began to descend onto an area of rough and uneven terrain. She said that as the pilot was attempting to gain altitude, the airplane stalled, and the nose wheel struck a large ditch at the departure end of the site. The airplane subsequently nosed over, and sustained structural damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage.
According to the company owner, there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N710MH
- Reported as
- Cessna 206
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- U20602383
- Airframe hours
- 3,692
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-F, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Dawn E. Foster, doing business as Circle Air
- Registered owner
- Renald J. Drouin
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 12, 2003 · 26 hours before
- Departed
- Chalkyitsik, AK
- Destination
- CHP · Circle Hot Spgs, AK
- Flight plan
- Company 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
- 59
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- June 24, 2003
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 7,761 total · 3,133 in this make and model · 7,761 as pilot in command · 95 in the last 90 days · 66 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 182° at 10 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 30 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.