- Date
- March 2, 2014, 14:15 local (18:15 UTC)
- Place
- Alegnagik, AK
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N2542KSilvaire Luscombe 8E
- Defining event
- Taxi: Nose over/nose down
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 5, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA Anchorage FSDO
- FAA report
- 20140302003949A
- Case key
- 88872
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 failure to determine that the ice that he was taxiing on was safe for operation.
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 reported that he had just landed his tail wheel-equipped airplane on a frozen lake. During the taxi to his cabin, both of the airplane's main landing gear wheels broke through overflow ice, and the airplane nosed over, sustaining substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation, and that the accident could have been prevented had he called a local lodge owner to check the conditions of the ice before landing.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he had just landed his tail wheel-equipped airplane on a frozen lake. During the taxi to his cabin, both of the airplane's main landing gear wheels broke through overflow ice, and the airplane nosed over, sustaining substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation, and that the accident could have been prevented had he called a local lodge owner to check the conditions of the ice before landing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2542K
- Reported as
- Silvaire Luscombe 8E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 5269
- Built
- 1947
- Airframe hours
- 4,236
- Engine
- Continental C85, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 1, 2013 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- PADL · Dillingham, AK
- Destination
- Alegnagik, AK
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
- 58
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 20, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 1,950 total · 1,583 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.88 inHg
- Observed at
- PADL, 27 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 21, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 416 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.
Other investigations on N2542K · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.