- Date
- July 11, 2025, 03:00 local (11:00 UTC)
- Place
- Nelson Lagoon, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N109KSDehavilland Beaver DHC-2 MK.1
- Defining event
- Landing: 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
- 20250711011189A
- Case key
- 200536
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 clearance from a creek bank while maneuvering to land.
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
According to the pilot, while on short final to land on a remote beach, he misjudged the airplane’s height above a creek bank. The landing gear contacted the bank, and subsequently, the right main gear leg separated, and the right wing contacted the ground, the airplane came to rest upright. The fuselage sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N109KS
- Reported as
- Dehavilland Beaver DHC-2 MK.1
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1295
- Built
- 1957
- Airframe hours
- 17,749.9
- Engine
- P&W R-985 SERIES, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Rs Specialties LLC
- Registered owner
- Rs Specialties LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 24, 2025
- Departed
- N/A · Nelson Lagoon, AK
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- NONE · Remote Beach
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 63
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 25, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 13,000 total · 4,500 in this make and model · 13,000 as pilot in command · 130 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.67 inHg
- Observed at
- PAOU, 20 nm away
- METAR
- PAOU 111056Z AUTO 23004KT 10SM BKN031 OVC041 09/09 A2967 RMK AO2 SLP047 T00890089
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 5, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.5 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.