- Date
- May 10, 2008, 17:30 local (May 11, 2008, 01:30 UTC)
- Place
- Juneau, AK
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N62355de Havilland DHC-2
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern downwind: Birdstrike
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 8, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA-AL JNU FSDO 05
- FAA report
- 20080510837059A
- Case key
- 68010
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
Structural damage to the airplane as the result of a birdstrike.
Findings · 1
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
During an on-demand air taxi flight, the pilot was approaching a seaplane base for landing in a float-equipped airplane when it collided with a large bird. An FAA airworthiness inspector, Juneau Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), reported that the operator informed him of a collision with the bird that resulted in structural damage to the right wing leading edge.
Factual narrative
On May 10, 2008, about 1730 Alaska daylight time, a float-equipped de Havilland DHC-2 airplane, N62355, sustained substantial damage when it collided with a large bird during the landing approach, about 3/4 mile southwest of the Juneau International Seaplane base, Juneau, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) on-demand passenger flight under Title 14, CFR Part 135, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by Ward Air Inc., Juneau. The airline transport certificated pilot, and the two passengers, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the Funter Bay Seaplane base, about 1700.
On May 13, A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness inspector, Juneau Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), reported that the operator informed him of a collision with a bird that resulted in structural damage to the right wing leading edge. The pilot did not submit an NTSB Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N62355
- Reported as
- de Havilland DHC-2
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1045
- Engine
- Pratt and Whitney R-985, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Ward Air Inc.
- Registered owner
- Ward Air Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- PANR · Funter Bay, AK
- Destination
- PAJN · Juneau, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- PAJN · Juneau International
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
- 43
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 9,900 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 120° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,600 ft broken
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.70 inHg
- Observed at
- PAJN
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.