- Date
- September 5, 1993, 16:00 local (Sep 6, 1993, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Sweet Lucy Lake, AK
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N180TMCessna 180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 2, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19930905033049A
- Case key
- 2423
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 command's improper preflight planning and decision making. A factor in the accident was the high wind conditions.
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 float plane with four persons aboard was upset in high winds while taxiing in preparation for takeoff.
Factual narrative
On September 5, 1993, at approximately 1600 Alaska daylight time, a float-equipped Cessna 180 airplane, N180TM, dragged a wing and overturned while taxiing on Sweet Lucy Lake, 35 miles north of Port Alsworth, Alaska. The airplane sank, and the private pilot and three passengers escaped without injury. No flight plan wa on file for the flight to be conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 for personal reasons. Visual meterorological conditions existed at the time. The airplane remained submerged on September 8, 1993, and had incurred substantial damage.
The pilot told investigators that he had attempted to sail backwards in the strong southeast wind, but when he added power to taxi, the left wing picked up, the right wing dragged and the airpalne flipped over and sank. He said all of the occupants swam out and there were no reported injuries.
No NTSB Form 6120.1/2 has been received on this accident and therefore some data is estimated or left blank by the investigator.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N180TM
- Reported as
- Cessna 180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32674
- Engine
- Continental O-470, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Joyner, James M.
- Registered owner
- Joseph M. Joyner, Jr.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Destination
- LHD · Anchorage, 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
- 36
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,400 total · 100 in this make and model · 1,400 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 30 knots, gusting 40
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 45 °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 N180TM · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.