- Date
- July 19, 2021, 11:45 local (19:45 UTC)
- Place
- King Salmon, AK · 1.5 miles northwest of Wolverine Lake
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N68080Dehavilland DHC-2 MK 1
- Defining event
- Enroute: Abrupt maneuver
- 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
- 20210719006799A
- Case key
- 103523
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 exceedance of the floatplane’s critical angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and subsequent loss of control.
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 in a climb, approaching a mountain pass, he “felt” that the floatplane was not climbing sufficiently to safely clear the terrain. He extended the flaps and initiated a turn to the right, and “feeling a stall and loss of control imminent”, he applied full power. Subsequently, the floatplane stalled and impacted the ground sustaining substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the floatplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N68080
- Reported as
- Dehavilland DHC-2 MK 1
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 694
- Built
- 1954
- Engine
- P & W R-985-AN-14B, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 135
- Operator
- Branch River Air Service, Inc., doing business as Branch River air
- Registered owner
- River Front Akn LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Lower American Creek, AK
- Destination
- Hammersly Lake, AK
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Equipment
- Satellite tracking device, ADS-B
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
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 10, 2020
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 8,000 total · 1,450 in this make and model · 7,750 as pilot in command · 79.2 in the last 90 days · 65 in the last 30 days · 5.7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- PAKN, 35 nm away
- METAR
- PAKN 191954Z 13006KT 10SM CLR 19/15 A3004 RMK AO2 SLP171 T01940150 $
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.