- Date
- April 21, 2021, 11:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Tyonek, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N180RJCessna 180
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR go-around: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
- 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
- Case key
- 102963
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 loss of directional control while dragging the surface of an ice- and snow-covered lake in gusting wind conditions, which resulted in an impact with a tree.
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
According to the pilot, he was dragging the surface of an ice- and snow-covered lake in his wheel and ski- equipped airplane near the shoreline to determine the snow conditions. Subsequently, a gust of wind pushed the airplane into a tree located on a spit of land. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operations. 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 had done a better job of evaluating the conditions from the air or conducted operations directly into the wind.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N180RJ
- Reported as
- Cessna 180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32414
- Built
- 1956
- Airframe hours
- 2,840
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-470R, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Kindred David M
- Registered owner
- Kindred David M
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 2, 2021
- Departed
- Soldotna, AK
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Equipment
- Satellite tracking device, Handheld GPS
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
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 29, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 749 total · 325 in this make and model · 679 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.27 inHg
- Observed at
- PAIL, 19 nm away
- METAR
- PAIL 212153Z 09006KT 10SM BKN080 OVC130 08/01 A3027 RMK AO2 SLP252 T00780006