- Date
- July 9, 1994, 12:15 local (20:15 UTC)
- Place
- Nondalton, AK
- Injuries
- 6 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N2297Rde Havilland DHC-2
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 25, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19940709046819A
- Case key
- 2520
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 inadequate compensation for the wind condition. A factor in the accident was the gusty wind condition.
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
A commercial pilot transporting a game guide and his clients attempted a takeoff in choppy water with variable direction gusty winds. During the takeoff, a gust of wind lifted the right wing causing the left wing to contact the water.
Factual narrative
On July 09, 1994, at 1215 Alaska daylight time, a float equipped deHavilland DHC-2 airplane, N2297R, operated by Air Adventures of Kenai, Alaska, crashed during takeoff from Alexi Lake, located approximately 5 miles east of Nondalton, Alaska. The commercial certificated pilot-in-command and his five revenue passengers were not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The on demand air taxi VFR flight was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 135, for the purpose of transporting a game guide and his clients to Nikiski, Alaska. Visual meteorological conditions existed and a company VFR flight plan was in effect.
During a telephone interview with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on July 11, 1994, the pilot said that he was making a south takeoff in rain (drizzle) with the wind blowing from 180 degrees at 25 knots with gust to 35 knots. As the plane came over the hump onto the step, he decided that the waves were too big so he altered the direction of the takeoff run to the east. The flight subsequently encountered a strong wind from the southeast. A gust of wind lifted the right wing forcing the left wing tip and left elevator into the water.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2297R
- Reported as
- de Havilland DHC-2
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 742537930
- Engine
- P&W R-985-14B, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Mcbride, Michael S., doing business as Air Adventures , Inc.
- Registered owner
- Mcbride, Michael S.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 15, 1994
- Destination
- Kenai, 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
- 63
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,418 total · 600 in this make and model · 4,253 as pilot in command · 136 in the last 90 days · 110 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 25 knots, gusting 35
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 46 °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 N2297R · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.