# NTSB ANC04CA085: Cessna 402C, N300SN, Huslia, AK, August 5, 2004 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report - Date: August 4, 2004, 16:30 local (Aug 5, 2004, 00:30 UTC) - Place: Huslia, AK - Coordinates: 65.697502, -156.351104 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=65.6975&lon=-156.3511&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report December 3, 2004 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office - NTSB case key (mKey): 59827 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC04CA085 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/59827/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC04CA085 ## Probable cause The pilot's failure to extend the landing gear, which resulted in an inadvertent wheels up landing. A factor associated with the accident was the pilot's diverted attention. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Wheels up landing, landing - flare/touchdown - gear extension - not performed, pilot in command (cause) - diverted attention, pilot in command (contributing factor) ## Analysis The solo commercial air taxi pilot entered the airport area intending to land on one runway, but elected to change to the opposite end. The pilot reported that he was watching a departing airplane, and had placed his hand on the landing gear handle, but forgot to extend the landing gear, and landed gear-up. The airplane received structural damage to the lower fuselage. ## Factual narrative On August 4, 2004, about 1630 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 402C airplane, N300SN, sustained substantial damage during an inadvertent gear-up landing at the Huslia Airport, Huslia, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by Arctic Circle Air Service of Fairbanks, Alaska, as a visual flight rules (VFR) cargo flight under Title 14, CFR Part 135 when the accident occurred. The solo commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and company flight following procedures were in effect. The flight originated at the Fairbanks International Airport, Fairbanks, about 1400. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on August 4, the director of operations for the operator said the pilot told him he entered the airport area intending to land on one runway, but then elected to change to the opposite end. The pilot told him that in the confusion he forgot to extend the landing gear. The director of operations said the airplane sustained damage to the bottom of the fuselage, flaps, engine nacelles, and propellers. He said prior to the accident there were no known mechanical anomalies with the airplane. In a written statement dated August 4, the pilot reported that he entered the airport area intending to land on one runway, but elected to change to the oposite end. He wrote that he was watching a departing airplane, and had placed his hand on the landing gear handle, but forgot to extend the landing gear, and landed gear-up. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N300SN](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N300SN-2023-08-18), registration cancelled 2023-08-18, S/N 402C0060, built 1979 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cessna 402C - Registry model: [Cessna 402C](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-402c) (registry code 207590R) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental TSIO-520 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-tsio-520-series) (registry code 17040, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 402C0060 - Engines: Continental TSIO-520VB 325 hp reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Part 135 - Operator: Arctic Circle Air Service Inc, doing business as Arctic Circle Air - Registered owner: Arctic Air Group, Inc. - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal - Departed: PAFA, Fairbanks, AK - Destination: PAHL, Huslia, AK - Flight plan: Company VFR ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 57; injuries: none; airline transport; airplane ratings: single-engine land, multi-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1; flight hours: 11,115 total, 4,750 in this make and model, 279 in the last 90 days, 176 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20040804017339A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20040804017339A), Aug 4, 2004: Cessna 402C, Huslia, AK, Substantial damage. (-23) PIC stated that he was preparing to land runway 3. While completing the prelanding checks he decided that runway conditions were in favor of switching to… ## Other investigations on N300SN (1) 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. - [NTSB GAA19CA451](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/GAA19CA451), Jul 21, 2019: Cessna 402 (N300SN), St. Louis, MO, substantial damage. Probable cause: The airplane’s collision with a bird during short final. 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.