- Date
- May 24, 1991, 20:00 local (May 25, 1991, 04:00 UTC)
- Place
- Sterling, AK
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 3 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N4649ECessna 185
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 7, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19910524018669A
- Case key
- 5548
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 improper remedial action.
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 the pilot and witnesses on the riverbank, the airplane's left float struck and became lodged on a rock during the post landing taxi. While the pilot was standing on the float and attempting to free the airplane, he slipped and fell into the turning propeller. The pilot, an orthopedic surgeon, lost three fingers from his left hand.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4649E
- Reported as
- Cessna 185
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18503830
- Airframe hours
- 1,045
- Engine
- Continental IO-520D, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Ross N. Brudenell
- Registered owner
- Diane F. Wiktorowski
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 2, 1991 · 9 hours before
- Departed
- SOV · Seldovia, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 48
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 756 total · 670 in this make and model · 648 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 70 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.