- Date
- September 3, 1996, 15:15 local (23:15 UTC)
- Place
- Port Alsworth, AK
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N1801QCessna 206
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 23, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19960903025889A
- Case key
- 2894
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 conditions. A factor associated with the accident was the unfavorable wind.
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 air taxi cargo flight was departing a small, remote lake. The pilot of the float-equipped airplane estimated the wind velocity as approximately 5 knots. Shortly after lift-off, while still in ground effect, he said the wind either shifted or died down. He felt the airplane suddenly lose altitude, and continue to sink until it collided with rocks and the shoreline.
Factual narrative
On September 3, 1996, about 1515 Alaska daylight time, a float equipped Cessna 206 airplane, N1801Q, sustained substantial damage when it collided with terrain while attempting to takeoff from an unnamed lake located approximately 25 miles west of Port Alsworth, Alaska. The solo commercial certificated pilot received minor injuries. The 14 CFR Part 135 on-demand air taxi flight operated in visual meteorological conditions. The flight originated at Lake Hood, Anchorage, Alaska, about 1100.
According to the Director of Operations for Alaska Bush Carriers, the pilot told him he was attempting to takeoff from a small lake with a light load. The airplane had just lifted off, and was flying in ground effect, when the wind either shifted or died down. The airplane touched down on the water, entered a rocky shoreline area, and became momentarily airborne again. The airplane subsequently crashed just beyond the shoreline. Emergency medical treatment was provided by a veterinarian who was an Alaska Bush Carrier's customer and was camped nearby. The veterinarian sutured a wound over the pilot's eye.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1801Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 206
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- U20602925
- Airframe hours
- 5,005
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-F, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Alaska Bush Carriers
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 10, 1996 · 69 hours before
- Departed
- LHD · Anchorage, 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
- 26
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,265 total · 65 in this make and model · 3,095 as pilot in command · 348 in the last 90 days · 162 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °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 N1801Q · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.