- Date
- June 6, 2004, 11:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Dillingham, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2631DCessna 170B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 28, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA-AL-ANC FSDO 03
- FAA report
- 20040606013149A
- Case key
- 59396
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 selection of unsuitable terrain for landing, which resulted in the airplane nosing over during the landing flare/touchdown. A factor contributing to the accident was soft tundra terrain.
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 private certificated pilot was planning to test a remote tundra-covered area for its suitability as a landing strip. The area selected was adjacent to a river. The pilot said he configured the airplane with 20 degrees of flaps, and touched the main landing gear tires on the tundra to test the surface. The tires dug into the soft tundra and the airplane nosed over. The airplane received damage to the propeller, fuselage, vertical stabilizer, and the rudder.
Factual narrative
On June 6, 2004, about 1100 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire-equipped Cessna 170B airplane, N2631D, sustained substantial damage when it nosed over while landing on soft terrain, about 8 miles west of Dillingham, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) local area personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the pilot. The private certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. No flight plan was filed, nor was one required.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on June 6, the pilot reported that he was planning to test a remote tundra-covered area for its suitability as a landing strip. The area was about 2,000 feet square adjacent to the Snake River. The pilot said he configured the airplane with 20 degrees of flaps, and touched the main landing gear tires on the tundra to test the surface. The tires dug into the soft tundra and the airplane nosed over. The airplane received damage to the propeller, fuselage, vertical stabilizer, and the rudder.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2631D
- Reported as
- Cessna 170B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20783
- Airframe hours
- 3,507
- Engine
- Continental O-300C, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Grant R. Humphreys
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 6, 2003 · 104 hours before
- Departed
- PADL · Dillingham, AK
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
- 46
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- June 7, 2003
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,240 total · 1,150 in this make and model · 1,170 as pilot in command · 34 in the last 90 days · 17 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 125° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.96 inHg
- Observed at
- PADL, 8 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.