- Date
- November 17, 1982, 11:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Elim, AK
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured; on the ground: 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N2780DCessna 170B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 17, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19821117059589A
- Case key
- 70575
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
According to a witness, the acft lifted off the rwy about midfield, climbed to about 30-50 ft AGL & then began a dive. The witness heard no change in eng sound. The acft's wing first struck a box set on top of other equipment on the ground(about 4 ft 6 in high), struck the windshield on a snowmobile & then struck the victim who was thrown 15-20 ft. the witness stated he had to dive to the ground to escape injury. He also stated he had observed the plt's acft dive at people on a previous occasion. The plt stated he was practicing a forced landing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2780D
- Reported as
- Cessna 170B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25322
- Airframe hours
- 248
- Engine
- Continental C-145, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Harry W. James
- Registered owner
- Harry W. James
- Departed
- ELI · Elim, AK
- Destination
- C · Kotzebue, AK
- Airport
- ELI · Elim, runway 1, 1,975 × 60 ft, snow
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
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 9,100 total · 850 in this make and model · 150 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 60 statute miles
- Temperature
- 59 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.