- Date
- May 31, 2020, 16:17 local (Jun 1, 2020, 00:17 UTC)
- Place
- Unalakleet, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N779DAAir Tractor AT802
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20200531011809A
- Case key
- 101365
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 maintain terrain clearance during the departure, which resulted in a collision with terrain..
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 of the amphibious scooper air tanker airplane, reported that while preforming aerial firefighting operations, he heard ground firefighters express concern over the radio about their equipment "being too close to the fire line." In response, the pilot landed at a small lake to fill the airplane's water hopper tank with water to drop on the fire. During the departure from the lake, the airplane’s left float struck a "small hill" that was about 20 ft above ground level. The pilot proceeded to fly the airplane to a nearby airport and made an uneventful landing. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N779DA
- Reported as
- Air Tractor AT802 (FIREBOSS)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 802A-0779
- Built
- 2018
- Airframe hours
- 205.4
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney PT6A-67F, 1,600 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Firefighting · Part 91
- Operator
- Aero Spray Inc, doing business as Dauntless Air
- Registered owner
- Aero Spray Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 19, 2020
- Departed
- GAL · Galena, AK
- Destination
- GAL · Galena, AK
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, Handheld GPS, Data recorder, Onboard weather, ADS-B, Satellite tracking device, Stall warning system
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
- 50
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 1, 2020
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 11,000 total · 2,000 in this make and model · 10,700 as pilot in command · 35 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 15 knots, gusting 22
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Altimeter
- 29.45 inHg
- Observed at
- PAUN, 15 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 10, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.2 MB 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.