- Date
- September 13, 2024, 16:00 local (Sep 14, 2024, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Anchorage, AK
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5275ECessna 180B
- Defining event
- Enroute: Aircraft wake turb encounter
- 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/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20240913016229A
- Case key
- 195122
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 encounter with wake turbulence, which resulted in substantial damage to the airplane.
Findings · 2
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 he was inbound to land and was waiting for a break in chatter on the radio to contact the air traffic control tower. He was about 7 miles from the airport, and about 1,050 ft mean sea level when he encountered wake turbulence presumably from a Boeing 747 inbound to an adjacent runway. He stated the airplane violently dropped and he struck his head on the ceiling. He was able to maintain control of the airplane and land uneventfully. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5275E
- Reported as
- Cessna 180B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 50575
- Built
- 1959
- Airframe hours
- 7,116
- Engine
- Continental O-470-K, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 1, 2024
- Departed
- pvt · Beluga, AK
- Destination
- LHD · Anchorage, AK
- Airport
- LHD · Lake Hood, runway W, 4,541 × 188 ft, water
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, ADS-B, Stall warning system, Satellite tracking device
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
- Minor
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor, Commercial, Flight engineer
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 30, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 26,000 total · 1,700 in this make and model · 7,500 as pilot in command · 35 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,700 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.50 inHg
- Observed at
- ALH, 4 nm away
- METAR
- PALH 131153Z 00000KT 10SM OVC047 10/10 A2950 RMK AO2 SLP991 70085 T01000100 10106 20100 51016
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 5, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.3 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.