- Date
- August 7, 2004, 17:30 local (Aug 8, 2004, 01:30 UTC)
- Place
- Wasilla, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N61609Cessna 185F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 24, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA-AL-ANC FSDO 03
- FAA report
- 20040807018709A
- Case key
- 59890
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 failure to compensate for a crosswind during landing and his failure to maintain directional control, which resulted in a loss of control and collision with a ditch. A factor contributing to the accident was a crosswind.
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 landing with a left crosswind. At touchdown, the airplane veered to the right and departed off the right side of the runway. The airplane then collided with a ditch, and the right main landing gear strut was torn off the airplane. The airplane received structural damage to the landing gear, fuselage, and the right wing.
Factual narrative
On August 7, 2004, about 1730 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire-equipped Cessna 185F airplane, N61609, sustained substantial damage when it departed off the runway and collided with a ditch during landing at the Wasilla Airport, Wasilla, 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. The flight departed from the Big Lake Airport, Big Lake, Alaska, about 1500.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on August 10, the pilot reported that he was landing on runway 21 at Wasilla. He said that the wind conditions consisted of a left crosswind that was blowing about 15 knots with gusts to 25 knots from about 150 degrees. He indicated that at touchdown, the airplane veered to the right and departed off the right side of the runway. The airplane then collided with a ditch, and the right main landing gear strut was torn off the airplane. The airplane received structural damage to the landing gear, fuselage, and the right wing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N61609
- Reported as
- Cessna 185F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18504235
- Airframe hours
- 1,847
- Engine
- Continental IO550-D, 315 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- George F. Kalmbach
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 4, 2003 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- BGQ · Big Lake, AK
- Destination
- PAWS · Wasilla, AK
- Airport
- PAWS · Wasilla, runway 21, 3,700 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 75
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- April 30, 2004
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,000 total · 750 in this make and model · 1,000 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days · 50 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 15 knots, gusting 25
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N61609 · 3
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.