# NTSB ANC12LA061: Dehavilland Beaver DHC-2 MK.1, N63562, Bettles, AK, June 30, 2012 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: June 30, 2012, 14:00 local (22:00 UTC) - Place: Bettles, AK - Coordinates: 67.24015, -161.190597 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=67.2401&lon=-161.1906&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Landing: Nose over/nose down](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/096) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report December 11, 2012 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office - Parties: Federal Aviation Administration - NTSB case key (mKey): 84199 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC12LA061 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/84199/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=84199 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC12LA061 ## Probable cause The pilot’s failure to properly judge the airplane’s distance and altitude from the landing location during the final approach, which resulted in an undershoot and a nose over. ## 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) - [Runway/land/takeoff/taxi surface](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03023000): Environmental issues › Physical environment · Contributed to outcome; cases with it: [All aircraft, 253 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03023000/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Landing-flare/touchdown: Landing area undershoot](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/370); cases with it: [All aircraft, 201 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/370/sequence.md) - [Landing: Nose over/nose down](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/096) (defining event); cases with it: [All aircraft, 2,287 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/096/sequence.md) ## Analysis According to the pilot, he parked his tailwheel-equipped airplane on a remote gravel bar adjacent to a river, and, during the night, the rising water submerged the airplane’s main wheels and empennage. The pilot reported that, the following morning, while trying to taxi the airplane from the river, “the tires were lurching, and the tail was underwater.” He said that he increased the engine power to lift the tail and applied heavy braking action to control the airplane as he taxied downstream and downwind. The airplane then lurched forward again, and the tail lifted as the propeller struck the water, and the airplane nosed over. Photographs showed that the airplane was about 20 feet from the shore and positioned on a heading aligned with the estimated approach path for landing on the adjacent gravel bar. Evidence of minimal damage on the propeller blades is consistent with a low engine-power setting at the time of the nose over. The main landing gear wheel tracks that led up to the wreckage were visible in the gravel beneath the shallow river water and that the tracks came from a direction consistent with an approach to the gravel bar from over the river. All of the physical evidence is consistent with the airplane having touched down in the water short of the desired touchdown point during an attempted landing on the gravel bar. ## Factual narrative On June 30, 2012, about 1400 Alaska daylight time, a tailwheel and tundra tire-equipped De Havilland DHC-2 (Beaver) airplane, N63562, sustained substantial damage when it nosed over in the water about 20 feet from the shore adjacent to the approach end of a gravel bar on the banks of the Noatak River about 123 miles west of Bettles, Alaska. The pilot reported that the nose over occurred during taxi. The airplane was operated by the pilot/owner as a visual flight rules personal flight under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 when the accident occurred. The pilot reported that he was the sole occupant of the airplane and that he was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The pilot did not immediately contact the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to report the accident. When contacted by the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC) on July 17, 2012, the pilot provided information and subsequently completed a written statement. In the pilot’s written statement dated July 23, he reported that he had parked the airplane the night before on a gravel bar and that, during the night, the rising river water submerged the airplane’s main wheels and empennage. He said that, the following morning, while trying to taxi the airplane from the river, “the tires were lurching, and the tail was underwater.” He said that he increased the engine power to lift the tail and applied heavy braking action to control the airplane as he taxied downstream and downwind. The airplane then lurched forward again, and the tail lifted as the propeller struck the water, and the airplane nosed over. Photographs provided to the NTSB by a National Park Service (NPS) ranger who responded to the scene showed that the airplane was nosed over in shallow water on a heading that appeared aligned with the estimated approach path for landing on the adjacent gravel bar. The gravel bar landing site appeared to be long, wide, smooth, and covered with sand and small rocks. The airplane’s rudder showed substantial damage. Photographs of the two-bladed propeller showed that one blade had little damage and that the second blade had minor bending and little torsional twisting. During a telephone conversation with the NTSB IIC, on July 3, an NPS ranger who responded to the accident site reported seeing wheel tracks in the gravel under the shallow river water. The NPS ranger observed that the wheel tracks, which were in line with the airplane’s main landing gear wheels, led up to the wreckage and appeared to come from a direction consistent with an approach to the gravel bar from over the river. The NPS ranger added that, during his on-scene interview with the pilot, the pilot asked him not to notify the NTSB or the Federal Aviation Administration about the accident. ## Aircraft - Registration: N63562 (not matched to a registry record) - Reported make and model: DEHAVILLAND BEAVER DHC-2 MK.1 - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 272 - Airframe hours: 6167 - Engines: P&W R-985 SERIES 450 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Operator: Toby Ashley - Registered owner: Ashley Heating & Air Conditioning - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, February 14, 2012 - Destination: Bettles, AK - Flight plan: Unknown ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 43; injuries: none; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 3, without waivers/limitations; last flight review August 2, 2010; seat: left; flight hours: 2,396 total, 398 in this make and model, 2,396 as pilot in command, 61 in the last 90 days, 35 in the last 30 days, 0 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 90° at 25 knots, gusting 40 - Visibility: 1 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 150 ft overcast - Temperature: 50 °F ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20120630014799A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20120630014799A), Jun 30, 2012: Dehavilland BEAVER DHC-2 MK.1, Noatak River, AK, Minor damage. Pilot stated he was repositioning the aircraft on the gravel bar due to the rising water. During taxi the aircraft sunk in the River upside down. ## Docket (4 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 15, 2012, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=84199. 14.9 MB in all. - Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 2.6 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40378898&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Redacted.PDF - Record of Conversation (item 2, .PDF, 116 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40378899&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Record%20of%20Conversation-Master.PDF - Photo 1. Aerial view of the accident airplane and site. (item 3, .PDF, 5.4 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40378971&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Photo%201.%20Aerial%20view%20of%20the%20accident%20airplane%20and%20site.-Master.PDF - Photo 2. Accident airplane as seen from the beach landing area. (item 4, .PDF, 6.8 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40378972&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Photo%202.%20Accident%20airplane%20as%20seen%20from%20the%20beach%20landing%20area.-Master.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. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.