- Date
- September 30, 2012, 20:00 local (Oct 1, 2012, 04:00 UTC)
- Place
- Port Lions, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N2028GCessna 182A
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Structural icing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report December 19, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20120930023279A
- Case key
- 85178
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 decision to take off with ice- and snow-contaminated wings.
Findings · 3
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
Prior to departure, the commercial pilot attempted to remove ice and snow contamination from the wings of the float-equipped airplane, but some contamination remained. During the takeoff run, the airplane failed to become airborne before reaching the end of the lake. The airplane slid along a gravel spillway for several hundred feet before nosing over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, empennage, and fuselage. The pilot stated that there were no preaccident anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot noted that the accident might have been avoided if he had removed all the frozen contamination from the wing or waited for above-freezing temperatures.
Factual narrative
Prior to departure the commercial pilot attempted to remove frozen contamination from the wings of the float equipped airplane, but some contamination remained. During the takeoff run, the airplane failed to become airborne before reaching the end of the lake. The airplane slid along a gravel spillway for several hundred feet, before nosing over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, empennage, and fuselage. The pilot stated there were no pre-accident anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. In the pilot’s written statement to the National Transportation Safety Board he noted that the accident might have been avoided if he had removed all the frozen contamination from the wing, or waited for above freezing temperatures.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2028G
- Reported as
- Cessna 182A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 51328
- Airframe hours
- 2,855
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-470 SERIES, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Blakeslee Mark C
- Registered owner
- Blakeslee Mark C
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 27, 2012
- Departed
- PVT · Port Lions, AK
- Destination
- 9Z3 · Kodiak, AK
- Airport
- PVT · Shotgun Lake, runway 36, 2,400 × 500 ft, water
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
- 56
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 12, 2011
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,725 total · 1,296 in this make and model · 1,617 as pilot in command · 3 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 310° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.07 inHg
- Observed at
- PADQ, 18 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 27, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 705 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.