- Date
- July 29, 2004, 10:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Yakutat, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N9178GCessna U206G
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 28, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- US Department of the Interior
- FAA report
- 20040729034169A
- Case key
- 60029
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 preflight inspection, and his failure to secure the cargo door, which resulted in the cargo door coming open during the takeoff roll.
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 operator of the Title 14, CFR Part 91 flight reported that during the takeoff roll, the aft cargo door opened and struck the fuselage, which resulted in substantial damage to several fuselage stringers. The operator noted that the pilot had opened the cargo door prior to the accident flight to load equipment. Postaccident inspection by the operator's maintenance personnel disclosed no mechanical problem with the door, and the operator reported the door could not be inadvertently opened when it was properly closed and latched.
Factual narrative
On July 29, 2004, about 1000 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna U206G airplane, N9178G, sustained substantial damage when the aft cargo door came open during the takeoff roll, and damaged the fuselage, at the Yakutat Airport, Yakutat, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by the US Department of the Interior as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country transportation flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred. The commercial pilot and sole passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was filed.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on August 26, the director of maintenance for the operator said during an inspection of the accident airplane he discovered unreported substantial damage to the airplane's fuselage. He said he traced the damage to an incident where the aft cargo door opened during a takeoff roll, and baggage fell onto the runway. He said the pilot told him he checked the door for damage, but did not see significant damage to the fuselage. The director of maintenance said several fuselage stringers aft of the cargo door will have to be replaced.
In a written statement from a US Department of the Interior investigator dated September 1, the investigator reported no mechanical deficiencies with the cargo door latching mechanism, and that he could not duplicate a way for the cargo door to inadvertently open when it was properly secured.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9178G
- Reported as
- Cessna U206G
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- U20603803
- Airframe hours
- 5,841
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-F, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Public aircraft · Part 91
- Registered owner
- US Department of the Interior
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 19, 2004 · 67 hours before
- Departed
- PAYA · Yakutat, AK
- Destination
- Dry Bay, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- PAYA · Yakutat, runway 11, 7,745 × 100 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
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- December 9, 2002
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,958 total · 2,958 as pilot in command · 114 in the last 90 days · 28 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.