- Date
- February 15, 1989, 14:15 local (18:15 UTC)
- Place
- Skwentna, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N35038Piper J-5
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 28, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19890215003239A
- Case key
- 5166
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 selection of unsuitable terrain. A contributing factor is the pilot's lack of experience in off airport landings.
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
The 252 hour private pilot was attempting to land his ski equipped Piper J-5 airplane on a frozen lake when the left main gear collapsed, causing substantial damage to the left wing lift struts. He said that the left main gear encountered a snow berm that was larger than anticipated and that the gear was overloaded by the impact. The pilot recommends a closer inspection of ground conditions prior to landing, and not landing when snow drifts are visible from 100' AGL.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N35038
- Reported as
- Piper J-5
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 5-548
- Airframe hours
- 2,585
- Engine
- Continental C-85-8, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Kahler, Michael S.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 2, 1985 · 100 hours before
- Departed
- Z15 · Chugiak, AK
- Destination
- Johnson Creek, AK
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
- 39
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Unknown
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 252 total · 123 in this make and model · 180 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 150 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 18 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.