- Date
- July 23, 2005, 10:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Kivalina, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N7478TJeska Murphy Rebel
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 20, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA-AL-FAI FSDO 01
- FAA report
- 20050723017459A
- Case key
- 62052
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 attain adequate airspeed during takeoff-initial climb, which resulted in a stall and collision with a ditch. A factor contributing to the accident was the ditch.
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 departing a gravel bar that was about 900 feet long. During the takeoff run, the airplane lifted off, and then settled slightly. The main landing gear tires collided with the lip of a ditch, shearing off the main gear. The airplane then skidded on the gravel surface for about 25 feet. The airplane received structural damage to the fuselage, and the main landing gear attach points.
Factual narrative
On July 23, 2005, about 1000 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire-equipped homebuilt experimental Jeska Murphy Rebel airplane, N7478T, sustained substantial damage when the landing gear struck a ditch during takeoff initial climb from a remote gravel bar on the Wulik River, about 12 miles east of Kivalina, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the pilot. The private certificated pilot, and the sole passenger, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight was en route to Noatak, Alaska, and 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 July 25, the pilot reported that he was departing a gravel bar that was about 900 feet long. During the takeoff, the airplane lifted off, and then settled slightly. The main landing gear tires collided with the lip of a ditch, shearing off the main gear. The airplane then skidded on the gravel surface for about 25 feet. The airplane received structural damage to the fuselage, and the main landing gear attach points.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7478T
- Reported as
- Jeska Murphy Rebel
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 088
- Airframe hours
- 249
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-C1, 115 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Clifford L. Jeska
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 1, 2005 · 39 hours before
- Departed
- Kivalina, AK
- Destination
- Noatak, 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
- 54
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 392 total · 249 in this make and model · 35 in the last 90 days · 26 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 135° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.