- Date
- September 28, 1989, 18:30 local (Sep 29, 1989, 02:30 UTC)
- Place
- Trading Bay, AK
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N64399Cessna 185
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 11, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19890928037359A
- Case key
- 5271
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
Pilot in commands failure to perform an adequate visual approach resulting in collision with a tree.
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 333 hour private pilot was attempting to land his Cessna 185 at a remote dirt airstrip. He said that he was on a short, low final approach when the airplane struck a tree with the left wing, causing a complete loss of control. He said he did not see the tree until after the accident, and thought initially he had just gotten too slow and inadvertently stalled the airplane. He said that he didn't see the tree because none of the branches had any leaves.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N64399
- Reported as
- Cessna 185
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1851262
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Fontenot, Byran
- Registered owner
- Fontenot, Bryan J.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- MRI · Anchorage, AK
- Airport
- NONE · Remote Airstrip, runway 9, 1,000 × ft, dirt
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
- 46
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Flight hours
- 333 total · 156 in this make and model · 333 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 150 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N64399 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.