- Date
- September 22, 2025, 16:40 local (Sep 23, 2025, 00:40 UTC)
- Place
- Healy, AK · Decker Airstrip
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N976ECessna 208B
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report June 22, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20250922015449A
- Case key
- 201705
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 directional control during the departure roll resulting in a collision with a tractor/loader.
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
During the departure roll from a remote, rough, and uneven gravel-and-dirt airstrip, the airplane encountered a bounce. As a result, the pilot’s foot inadvertently slipped off the rudder pedal, leading to a loss of directional control. The airplane veered to the left, toward a tractor/loader parked adjacent to the airstrip. The pilot elected to abort the takeoff; however, during the deviation, the airplane passed the tractor/loader on its left side. Although the pilot was able to bring the airplane to a stop, she was unaware that the left wing had struck the tractor/loader. Subsequently, the pilot taxied the airplane back to the departure end of the airstrip and conducted another takeoff, which was uneventful. The flight continued to the intended destination without further incident. Following arrival, a postflight inspection revealed substantial damage to the left wing spar cap assembly consistent with impact with the tractor/loader. The operator reported that there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N976E
- Reported as
- Cessna 208B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 208B0976
- Built
- 2002
- Airframe hours
- 23,804.6
- Engine
- Pratt and Whitney PT6A-140, 867 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 135
- Operator
- Wright Air Service Inc
- Registered owner
- Wright Air Service Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · September 1, 2025 · 40 hours before
- Destination
- PAFA · Fairbanks, AK
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- PVT · Decker Airstrip, runway 1, 2,250 × 75 ft, dirt
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, Electronic multifunction display, Auto-pilot, 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
- 38
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 27, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 13,600 total · 5,000 in this make and model · 13,300 as pilot in command · 351 in the last 90 days · 134 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,000 ft overcast
- METAR
- METAR PAFA 230053Z 26008KT 10SM -DZ SCT022 BKN028 OVC034 06/03 A294
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 22, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.8 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.