- Date
- July 30, 1992, 19:00 local (Jul 31, 1992, 03:00 UTC)
- Place
- Anaktuvuk Pass, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N27532Cessna A-185-F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 26, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19920730028199A
- Case key
- 5764
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 in commands improper planning and decision to commence a takeoff in unfavorable wind conditions. Contributing factors to the accident were the impossibility of the pilot to maintain the proper climb rate, the unfavorable wind conditions, and the pilot misreading the wind information.
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
After the airplane was in position for takeoff from the lake, the wind direction changed so the pilot repositioned the airplane to the opposite end of the lake. The pilot said that the wind was changing fairly erratically. Just after getting airborne, and while still over the lake, the airplane stopped climbing then collided with the shoreline. The pilot and passenger said they thought the airplane stopped climbing because the wind either changed or stopped blowing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N27532
- Reported as
- Cessna A-185-F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18503688
- Airframe hours
- 4,077
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Wright Air Service, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Wright Air Service, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 23, 1992 · 74 hours before
- Destination
- Chandler Lake, AK
- Flight plan
- Company 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
- 31
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 9,000 total · 350 in this make and model · 8,807 as pilot in command · 197 in the last 90 days · 74 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 5 knots, gusting 10
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.