- Date
- June 18, 2006, 15:15 local (23:15 UTC)
- Place
- Dillingham, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N2217TCessna 185
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 31, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA AL ANC FSDO 03
- FAA report
- 20060618012499A
- Case key
- 64012
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 selection of unsuitable terrain for takeoff, which resulted in the airplane's tailwheel snagging a rope during the takeoff run, and subsequent in-flight collision with terrain. A factor contributing to the accident was a rope that was positioned across the departure path.
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 was departing from a beach in a tailwheel-equipped airplane on a Title 14, CFR Part 91 personal flight. The pilot said the beach was an area he utilized for set-net fishing. He began his takeoff run between a creek and set-net ropes lying on the beach, a distance of about 550 feet. The airplane lifted off and climbed to about 10 feet, when the pilot said he felt a tug on the tail of the airplane, and realized that the tailwheel had snagged one of the ropes. The airplane pitched nose down, collided with the ground, and nosed over. The airplane received structural damage to the wings and vertical stabilizer. After the accident, the pilot said he found that when the tailwheel snagged the first rope, it pulled an adjacent rope upward, which snagged the main landing gear.
Factual narrative
On June 18, 2006, about 1515 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire, tailwheel-equipped Cessna 185 airplane, N2217T, sustained substantial damage when it collided with the ground during takeoff-initial climb from a remote beach, about 18 miles south-southeast of Dillingham, 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 commercial certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight was en route to Dillingham, and no flight plan was filed.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on June 29, the pilot reported that he was departing from a beach near Ekuk Spit, which is an area he utilizes for set-net fishing from the beach. The pilot said he began his takeoff run toward the west, between a creek and set-net ropes lying on the beach surface, a distance of about 550 feet. The airplane lifted off the ground and climbed to about 10 feet, when the pilot said he felt a tug on the tail of the airplane, and he realized that the tailwheel had snagged one of the ropes. The airplane pitched nose down about 45 degrees, collided with the ground, and nosed over. The airplane received structural damage to the wings and vertical stabilizer. After the accident, the pilot said he found that when the tailwheel snagged the first rope, it pulled an adjacent rope upward, which snagged the main landing gear.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2217T
- Reported as
- Cessna 185
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1369
- Engine
- Continental IO-550-D15B, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- James A. Libby
- Registered owner
- Tango LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Dillingham, 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
- 52
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Private, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 1, 2004
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,830 total · 1,800 in this make and model · 3,800 as pilot in command · 35 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 55 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.