# NTSB ANC06LA101: Cessna 172E, N5560T, Big Lake, AK, July 13, 2006 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: July 13, 2006, 07:30 local (15:30 UTC) - Place: Big Lake, AK - Coordinates: 59.290271, -156.649475 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=59.2903&lon=-156.6495&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Maneuvering](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/450) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report February 26, 2007 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office - Parties: Anchorage FSDO-03 - NTSB case key (mKey): 64210 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC06LA101 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/64210/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC06LA101 ## Probable cause The pilot's failure to maintain altitude/clearance from a transmission line while performing a low altitude maneuver, which resulted in an in-flight collision with the transmission line. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - In flight collision with object, maneuvering - altitude/clearance - not maintained, pilot in command (cause) - object - wire,transmission - low altitude flight/maneuver - performed, pilot in command (cause) ## Analysis The private pilot was conducting a personal local flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91. While performing a low altitude maneuver, the airplane struck a transmission wire suspended between poles. The pilot was able to continue the flight and land without further incident. The airplane sustained structural damage to the right wing, right lift-strut, and rudder. ## Factual narrative On July 13, 2006, about 0730 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 172E airplane, N5560T, sustained substantial damage during an in-flight collision with a power line while maneuvering at a low altitude, about 3 miles northwest of Big Lake, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by the pilot as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal local flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The solo private certificated pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The flight departed Big Lake Airport, Big Lake, about 0700. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on July 26, an FAA air safety inspector said he had been advised of a damaged airplane in a hangar at the Big Lake Airport. He stated that he had been given digital photographs of the accident airplane, which he forwarded to the IIC. The photographs depicted substantial damage to the right wing, which was cut through the leading edge to the spar, the right lift-strut had electrical arc burns, the rudder had been removed for replacement, and the vertical stabilizer leading edge was removed for replacement. The inspector said he had contacted the airplane's owner, who was out of the area for several weeks, by cellular phone. He stated that the owner/pilot told him he was flying his airplane northwest of Big Lake, looking for fish in a river when the airplane struck what he thought was a tree. He told the inspector he returned to the airport and inspected the damage. The inspector said the pilot reported that his mechanic told him that the damage indicated he had struck a power line. On July 27, a manager for the local power company told the IIC that a power line had been struck by an airplane northwest of Big Lake on the morning of July 13, which caused a power outage. In a written statement dated July 31, the pilot reported that he was attempting to spot fish in a creek when the airplane struck what he initially thought was a tree. He wrote that he returned to the airport and noted the damage to the right wing, lift-strut, and rudder. He indicated that a mechanic who examined the airplane, told him he must have struck a power line. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N5560T](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N5560T), registered now, S/N 17251460, built 1964 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cessna 172E - Registry model: [Cessna 172E](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-172e) (registry code 2072412) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental 0-300 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-0-300-series) (registry code 17022, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 17251460 - Engines: Continental O-300-D 145 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Operator: Christopher Cyphers - Registered owner: N5560t LLC - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Departed: BGO, Big Lake, AK ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 42; injuries: none; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 1, with waivers/limitations; last flight review December 1, 2005; seat: left; flight hours: 1,500 total, 1,300 in this make and model, 1,450 as pilot in command, 45 in the last 90 days, 15 in the last 30 days, 1 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: calm - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20060713016039A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20060713016039A), Jul 13, 2006: Cessna 172E, Big Lake, AK, Substantial damage. (-23) Aircraft sustained substantial damage during an inflight collision with a powerline while maneuvering at a low altitude 3 miles northwest of Big Lake.… ## Other investigations on N5560T (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB MKC71DCQ06](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MKC71DCQ06), Jul 25, 1970: Cessna 172E (N5560T), Lincoln, KS, substantial damage From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.