- Date
- June 5, 1996, 13:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Galena, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N501FSSwearingen SA-26
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 20, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19960605012889A
- Case key
- 2848
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 selection of an unsuitable landing site. Factors associated with the accident were the soft and uneven airstrip 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 pilot was landing the two engine turboprop airplane on a rural airstrip that was created to support a mining operation. During rollout on the rough dirt strip, the airplane encountered a soft spot and veered to the left. The nose landing gear collapsed, and the propellers struck the ground. A postcrash fire started in the vicinity of the left engine and was subsequently extinguished by ground personnel.
Factual narrative
On June 5, 1996, about 1330 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Swearingen SA-26 airplane, N501FS, registered to and operated by FS Air, Anchorage Alaska, sustained substantial damage while landing at the Illinois Creek mining airstrip, located about 80 miles southwest of Galena, Alaska. The solo airline transport certificated pilot was not injured. The 14 CFR Part 135 on-demand cargo flight operated in visual meteorological conditions.
According to witnesses, the airplane landed to the south on the dirt airstrip. During the landing roll, the airplane appeared to encounter a soft spot, veered to the left and went off the runway. The nose gear collapsed, and the propellers struck the ground. The left engine partially fragmented, with portions of the engine and/or propellers penetrating the fuselage. Additional damage was noted on the nose gear bulkhead structure.
A postcrash fire in the vicinity of the left engine was extinguished by ground crew personnel using hand-held fire extinguisher.
The pilot wrote in his statement to the NTSB: "On rollout, I applied power to help assist in taxi to the top of the runway. While taxiing the aircraft, it abruptly veered to the left and went off the runway". The pilot indicated on NTSB form 6120.1/2, Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, that there was no preaccident mechanical malfunction with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N501FS
- Reported as
- Swearingen SA-26
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- T-26-146
- Airframe hours
- 7,720
- Engine
- Garrett TPE331-1-151G, 665 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Fs Air
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · May 23, 1996 · 13 hours before
- Departed
- ANC · Anchorage, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- Illinois Creek, runway 17, 4,480 × 100 ft, dirt
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
- 39
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 7,000 total · 300 in this make and model · 5,000 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 21 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °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 N501FS · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.