- Date
- August 16, 2006, 15:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Tok, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N8597DPiper PA-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 28, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 20060816017959A
- Case key
- 64343
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 the wind conditions during the takeoff roll, which resulted in a collision with a tree. 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 commercial certificated pilot reported that he was departing a remote mountain ridge on a Title 14, CFR Part 135 cross-country air taxi flight. The takeoff area was about 500 feet long, and about 15 feet wide. The pilot said he departed downhill with a 10 mph quartering tailwind. About 250 feet from the starting point, the pilot said that the crosswind pushed the airplane to the right, and the right wing collided with a tree. The airplane veered to the right, and the left main landing gear collapsed. The airplane received structural damage to the right wing.
Factual narrative
The commercial certificated pilot reported that he was departing a remote mountain ridge on a Title 14, CFR Part 135 cross-country air taxi flight. The takeoff area was about 500 feet long, and about 15 feet wide. The pilot said he departed downhill with a 10 mph quartering tailwind. About 250 feet from the starting point, the pilot said that the crosswind pushed the airplane to the right, and the right wing collided with a tree. The airplane veered to the right, and the left main landing gear collapsed. The airplane received structural damage to the right wing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8597D
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-6248
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Forty Mile Air Ltd.
- Registered owner
- RWR Air Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Tok, AK
- Destination
- PATJ · Tok, AK
- Flight plan
- 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
- 49
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 2,355 total · 223 in this make and model · 92 in the last 90 days · 59 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 10 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 61 °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 N8597D · 4
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.