- Date
- March 5, 2004, 11:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- North Pole, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N515NCessna 170A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 1, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA, Fairbanks FSDO
- FAA report
- 20040305002839A
- Case key
- 58865
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
The pilot's delayed response in initiating an aborted takeoff, which resulted in an overrun and collision with a snowbank.
Analysis
The private certificated pilot attempted to takeoff in his ski-equipped tailwheel airplane from a snow covered runway. He reported that the airplane didn't seem to accelerate as quickly as it normally did, which he attributed to the snow condition. The airplane lifted off and settled onto the runway three times before the pilot aborted the takeoff. He was unable to stop the airplane on the runway, and it ran off the end and collided with a snowbank, receiving substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and horizontal stabilizer. The pilot wrote in his report to the NTSB that the accident could have been prevented "by aborting the takeoff in a timely manner."
Factual narrative
On March 5, 2004, about 1130 Alaska daylight time, a ski-equipped Cessna 170A airplane, N515N, received substantial damage when it collided with a snowbank during an aborted takeoff from the Bradley Sky Ranch airstrip, North Pole, Alaska. The private pilot/airplane owner and the sole passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, and no flight plan was filed. The flight was originating at the time of the accident, and the intended destination was a remote, off-airport site about 100 miles north of Fort Yukon, Alaska.
During a telephone conversation with the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC) on March 5, at 1430, the pilot related that he was departing on runway 33, which was snow covered and 3,400 feet long. He described the snow on the airstrip as "soft and sticky." He said the airplane didn't seem to accelerate as quickly as it normally did, which he attributed to the snow condition. The airplane continued to accelerate slowly, lifted off, and then settled onto the airstrip. The pilot said the airplane did this two more times, before he reduced the engine power and aborted the takeoff. The airplane subsequently ran off the end of the runway and hit a snowbank, sustaining structural damage to the right wing, main landing gear gear box, right horizontal stabilizer, and left wing lift strut.
The pilot wrote in his report to the NTSB that the accident could have been prevented "by aborting the takeoff in a timely manner."
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N515N
- Reported as
- Cessna 170A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 19987
- Airframe hours
- 4,910
- Engine
- Continental O-300A, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Richard A. Hayden
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 14, 2003 · 276 hours before
- Departed
- North Pole, AK
- Destination
- Fort Yukon, AK
- Airport
- 95Z · Bradley Sky Ranch, runway 33, 3,400 × 80 ft, gravel
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
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,114 total · 815 in this make and model · 30 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -9 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.