- Date
- October 20, 1993, 11:15 local (15:15 UTC)
- Place
- Karluk, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4327PPiper PA-32-301
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 30, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19931020040159A
- Case key
- 2470
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 selection of unsuitable terrain for landing.
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 pilot reported that he circled the landing area on a beach twice to determine the wind and suitability of the area. During the final stage of the landing flare (about two feet above the ground), he heard a loud thump off the right side of the airplane. He intiated a go-around and observed a dent in the outboard section of the right wing. He elected to land at king salmon. After landing, an eight inch circular gash was found in the leading edge of the right wing in the area of the outboard spar. A subsequent inspection of the Beech area was made by company personnel, but they could not identify the object that the airplane had hit.
Factual narrative
On October 20, 1993, at 1115 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Piper PA-32-301, N4327P, owned and operated by Peninsula Airways, Inc., dba PENAIR, struck an object during a landing attempt on Kanatak Beach. Kanatak is approximately 54 miles west of Karluk, Alaska, on the east coast of the Alaska peninsula. The commercial rated pilot-in-command, the sole occupant, was not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The positioning flight, operating under 14 CFR Part 91, last departed King Salmon at 1030 and the destination was Kanatak Beach to pick up some freight from a previous charter. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a company flight plan was in effect.
The pilot-in-command told the NTSB investigator-in-charge during a telephone conversation that he circled the landing area twice checking for conditions on the beach. He was in the final stage of the landing flare (about two feet off the ground) when he heard a loud thump off the right side of the airplane. He looked out along the right wing leading edge and observed a dent in the outboard portion of the wing. He balked the landing and returned to King Salmon. Upon landing, an eight inch circular gash was found along the leading edge of the right wing in the area of the outboard spar. A subsequent inspection of the beach area by company personnel in the days following the mishap could not determine the object that the airplane collided with.
The results of the toxicology tests performed on the pilot were negative.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4327P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32-301
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32-8406002
- Airframe hours
- 5,637
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-K1G5, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Peninsula Airways, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 4, 1993 · 65 hours before
- Departed
- AKN · King Salmon, 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
- 32
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 8,100 total · 4,300 in this make and model · 8,100 as pilot in command · 232 in the last 90 days · 115 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.