- Date
- June 16, 2012, 13:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Skwentna, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5874ACessna 172
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Runway incursion veh/AC/person
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 15, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20120616013169A
- Case key
- 84027
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 improper decision of the driver of the all-terrain vehicle to enter an active runway.
Findings · 2
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 pilot was landing on a gravel runway as part of an organized fly-in event. During the landing roll, an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) entered and proceeded down the runway, weaving from side to side. To avoid the ATV, the pilot pulled back on the control yoke. The airplane climbed and then drifted to the left, striking a tree on the edge of the runway; the airplane then turned left 180 degrees and came to rest in the brush alongside the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right aileron. The pilot noted that the accident might have been avoided if the organization that hosted the event had taken responsibility for securing the runway.
Factual narrative
The pilot was landing on a gravel runway as part of a organized fly-in event. During the landing roll an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) entered, and proceeded down the runway weaving from side-to-side. In an attempt to avoid the ATV he pulled back on the control yoke, and climbed the airplane over the ATV. The airplane drifted to the left, and struck a tree on the edge of the runway; it then turned left 180 degrees, and came to rest in the brush alongside the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right aileron. In the pilot’s written statement to the National Transportation Safety Board he noted that the accident might have been avoided if organizations which host these type of events took responsibility for securing the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5874A
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28474
- Airframe hours
- 3,380
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-300 SER, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 24, 2012
- Departed
- Z41 · Anchorage, AK
- Destination
- Skwentna, AK
- Airport
- PASW · Skwentna
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
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 3, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 529 total · 420 in this make and model · 7 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Observed at
- PASW, 8 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 8, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 657 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.