- Date
- September 10, 2023, 13:45 local (21:45 UTC)
- Place
- Beluga, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N124UACessna A185F
- Defining event
- Landing-aborted after touchdown: Runway excursion
- 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
- Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
- FAA report
- 20230910018119A
- Case key
- 193051
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 delayed go-around decision with insufficient runway remaining.
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 during a landing attempt on a 975 ft long remote airstrip, he realized that the airplane was going too fast, so he decided to perform a go-around. During the go around attempt, there was not sufficient runway remaining and the airplane went over the end of a cliff, impacting terrain, resulting in substantial damage to the horizontal stabilizer and both wings. The pilot reported that there were no pre-accident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N124UA
- Reported as
- Cessna A185F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18503022
- Built
- 1976
- Airframe hours
- 5,823.1
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Departed
- AK12 · Anchorage, AK
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- N/A · Capps Creek
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
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 6, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,730.8 total · 673.2 in this make and model · 2,730.8 as pilot in command · 20.3 in the last 90 days · 4.8 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 16,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.62 inHg
- Observed at
- PANC, 51 nm away
- METAR
- PANC 102053Z 34005KT 10SM FEW020 BKN160 11/07 A2962 RMK AO2 SLP032 T01060067 57016
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 4, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.8 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.