- Date
- September 3, 2015, 13:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Arctic Village, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N55WEDehavilland Beaver DHC 2 MK.1
- Defining event
- Takeoff-rejected takeoff: Nose over/nose down
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 14, 2016
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20150903016459A
- Case key
- 92464
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 selection of an unsuitable, off-airport site, which resulted in a nose over.
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
The pilot reported that while departing in a tailwheel-equipped airplane, from a rough and uneven tundra-covered off-airport site, it failed to gain sufficient airspeed, and he aborted the takeoff. The airplane's main wheels sunk into the soft tundra-covered terrain, and the airplane subsequently nosed over, sustaining substantial damage to the wings. The pilot stated that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that while departing in a tailwheel-equipped airplane, from a rough and uneven tundra-covered off-airport site, it failed to gain sufficient airspeed, and he aborted the takeoff. The airplane's main wheels sunk into the soft tundra-covered terrain, and the airplane subsequently nosed over, sustaining substantial damage to the wings. The pilot stated that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. In the recommendation section of the NTSB Accident/Incident Reporting Form 6120.1, the pilot stated that the accident may have been prevented if he would have selected a more suitable off-airport site.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N55WE
- Reported as
- Dehavilland Beaver DHC 2 MK.1 (MARKI)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 273
- Built
- 1952
- Airframe hours
- 13,981.9
- Engine
- P&W R-985 SERIES, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Kruse Jeff, doing business as Bushwhacker Air Service
- Registered owner
- Kruse Jeff
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 27, 2015
- Departed
- Arctic Village, AK
- Destination
- Arctic Village, AK
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 53
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 1, 2014
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 3,500 total · 350 in this make and model · 3,400 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.07 inHg
- Observed at
- PARC
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 7, 2016, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 279 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 N55WE · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.