# NTSB ANC08LA131: Dehavilland Beaver DHC, N203KL, Cooper Landing, AK, September 28, 2008

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report
- Date: September 28, 2008, 14:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place: Cooper Landing, AK
- Coordinates: 60.32389, -150.050003
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=60.3239&lon=-150.0500&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Defining event: [Landing: Collision during takeoff/land](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/490)
- Highest injury: No injuries
- Injuries: 2 uninjured
- Status: Completed, report July 28, 2009
- Report: Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office
- Parties: FAA, FSDO-03
- NTSB case key (mKey): 69347
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC08LA131
- NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/69347/pdf
- NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=69347
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC08LA131

## Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain separation from a tree during the landing roll at an off-airport site.

## Findings

NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause.

- [Use of equip/info: aircraft control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040): Personnel issues › Task performance · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [All aircraft, 9,295 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md)
- [Object/animal/substance: tree(s)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03022020): Environmental issues › Physical environment · Response/compensation (probable cause); cases with it: [All aircraft, 933 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03022020/cases.md)

## Sequence of events

The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened.

- [Landing: Collision during takeoff/land](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/490) (defining event); cases with it: [All aircraft, 1,309 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/490/sequence.md)

## Analysis

The airline transport pilot was making an off-airport landing on a glacier with passengers under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135. During the landing the left wing struck a tree, resulting in substantial damage. The pilot reported there were no mechanical problems with the airplane prior to the accident.

## Factual narrative

On September 28, 2008, about 1400 Alaska daylight time, a DeHavilland DHC-2 Beaver airplane, N203KL, sustained substantial damage when it struck a tree during landing on Skilak glacier, about 24 miles southwest of Cooper Landing, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by Alaska Air Taxi LLC, Anchorage, Alaska, as a visual flight rules (VFR) on-demand air taxi flight under Title 14, CFR Part 135, when the accident occurred. The airline transport pilot and passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and company flight following procedures were in effect. The airplane departed Anchorage about 1300. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on September 28, the pilot said the airplane's left wing struck a tree during the landing roll. According to the pilot, there were no mechanical problems with the airplane prior to the accident. The airplane's left wing received substantial damage during the accident. The pilot did not submit an NTSB Pilot/Operator accident report as required under CFR Part 830.

## Aircraft

- Registration: N203KL (not matched to a registry record)
- Reported make and model: DEHAVILLAND BEAVER DHC
- Category: Airplane
- Serial number: 1460
- Engines: P&W R-985 SERIES 450 horsepower reciprocating
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Flight: Part 135
- Operator: Alaska Air Taxi, LLC, doing business as Alaska Air Taxi
- Registered owner: Sonday Terrance Paul
- Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal
- Departed: LHD, Anchorage, AK
- Destination: Cooper Landing, AK
- Flight plan: Company VFR

## Flight crew

As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.

- Pilot; age 61; injuries: none; commercial, airline transport; airplane ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine sea, single-engine land; medical: class 2, with waivers/limitations; seat: left

## Weather

- Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day

## Docket (1 files)

The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 17, 2009, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=69347. 68 KB in all.

- Record of Conversation (item 1, .PDF, 68 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40314801&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Record%20of%20Conversation-Redacted.PDF

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.

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