- Date
- September 6, 2005, 18:00 local (Sep 7, 2005, 02:00 UTC)
- Place
- Igiugig, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N199BMdeHavilland DHC-2
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 20, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 20050906025749A
- Case key
- 62410
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 delay in aborting the takeoff run when he was unable to lift one float off the water, which resulted in a subsequent collision with terrain. A factor contributing to the accident was a river bank.
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 airline transport certificated pilot was departing eastbound, and up-river in a float-equipped airplane. He said the airplane was on-step, and he attempted to lift one float out of the water during the takeoff run, but was unsuccessful. He then decided to abort the takeoff by closing the engine throttle, and the airplane collided with the river bank. The left float assembly was torn off the fuselage, and the airplane received structural damage to the fuselage.
Factual narrative
On September 6, 2005, about 1800 Alaska daylight time, a float-equipped deHavilland DHC-2 airplane, N199BM, sustained substantial damage when it collided with a river bank during an aborted takeoff, about 18 miles south-southwest of Igiugig, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country positioning flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by Alaska Air Taxi, LLC, Anchorage, Alaska. The airline transport certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. VFR company flight following procedures were in effect, and the flight was en route to Igiugig.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on September 7, the pilot reported that he was departing eastbound, and up-river, on the Alagnak River. He said the airplane was on-step, and he attempted to lift one float out of the water during the takeoff run, but was unsuccessful. He then decided to abort the takeoff by closing the engine throttle. The pilot indicated that the airplane collided with the river bank, the left float assembly was torn off the fuselage, and the airplane received structural damage to the fuselage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N199BM
- Reported as
- deHavilland DHC-2
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 589
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney R-985, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Alaska Air Taxi LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Igiugig, AK
- Destination
- IGG · Igiugig, AK
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
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
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight engineer, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1
- Flight hours
- 22,000 total · 1,000 in this make and model · 200 in the last 90 days · 100 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.