- Date
- September 12, 2008, 15:35 local (23:35 UTC)
- Place
- Dillingham, AK
- Injuries
- 7 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N6426HCessna 207
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 11, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20080912857759A
- Case key
- 68936
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 inadequate evaluation of weather and runway conditions, and his improper decision to depart downwind, on a wet gravel runway, resulting in an in-flight collision with terrain after takeoff. Factors contributing to the accident were a tailwind, and an uphill grade of the wet, gravel-covered runway.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The commercial pilot was departing to the west, and uphill, from a private 2,400 foot-long, wet, rough and uneven gravel airstrip, with six passengers and baggage during an on-demand charter flight. In the pilot's written statement to the NTSB, he reported that at the time of the accident the airplane's gross weight was 10 pounds under the maximum gross weight. He wrote that during the takeoff roll, the wind suddenly switched to a tailwind, and the airplane failed to climb after it initially became airborne. He said that the airplane settled into an area of tundra-covered terrain about 100 yards west of the runway threshold, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained structural damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage. The pilot noted that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane. At the time of the accident the closest weather observation facility, about 2 miles southeast of the accident site, was reporting winds as 090 degrees at 9 knots, with gusts to 15 knots.
Factual narrative
The commercial pilot was departing to the west, and uphill, from a private 2,400 foot-long, wet, rough and uneven gravel airstrip, with six passengers and baggage during an on-demand charter flight. In the pilot's written statement to the NTSB, he reported that at the time of the accident the airplane's gross weight was 10 pounds under the maximum gross weight. He wrote that during the takeoff roll, the wind suddenly switched to a tailwind, and the airplane failed to climb after it initially became airborne. He said that the airplane settled into an area of tundra-covered terrain about 100 yards west of the runway threshold, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained structural damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage. The pilot noted that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane. At the time of the accident the closest weather observation facility, about 2 miles southeast of the accident site, was reporting winds as 090 degrees at 9 knots, with gusts to 15 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6426H
- Reported as
- Cessna 207
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20700
- Airframe hours
- 15,833.2
- Engine
- Teledyne Continental Motors IO-520-F, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Shannon's Air Taxi
- Registered owner
- Eric L. Shade
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 18, 2008
- Departed
- Dillingham, AK
- Destination
- KEK · Ekwok, AK
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- runway 27, 2,400 × 60 ft, gravel
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
- 44
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 4, 2007
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 6,700 total · 6,000 in this make and model · 6,700 as pilot in command · 175 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 9 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.53 inHg
- Observed at
- DLG, 4 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.