- Date
- January 18, 1997, 13:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Chugiak, AK
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5654NMaule M-5
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 4, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19970118000609A
- Case key
- 2963
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 failure to attain the proper touchdown point during landing. The snow-covered runway was a factor.
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 returning the airplane to its base after a prepurchase flight test demonstration. The pilot, the potential buyer of the airplane, said he misjudged where the end of the snow covered runway was, and landed short. The airplane's main landing gear wheels sank into the snow, and the airplane nosed over.
Factual narrative
On January 18, 1997, about 1300 Alaska standard time, a wheel equipped Maule M-5 airplane, N5654N, sustained substantial damage while landing at the Birchwood Airport, Chugiak, Alaska. The private certificated pilot and two passengers aboard were not injured. The local, 14 CFR Part 91 flight operated in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration inspector who interviewed the pilot and passengers, the accident airplane was on consignment for sale with one of the passengers, Mr. Lawrence Weiss. Mr. Weiss is the owner of Birchwood Aviation, and is also a private pilot. The pilot was a potential buyer of the airplane, and the purpose of the flight was for a prepurchase flight evaluation. The flight proceeded without incident until the landing attempt on runway 19. The airplane touched down short of the runway, rolled a short distance, and then nosed over.
The NTSB investigator-in-charge spoke with the pilot-rated passenger, Mr. Weiss, on January 18. Mr. Weiss related essentially the same information as the FAA inspector. He stated he initially flew the airplane during the takeoff from Birchwood, and then relinquished control of the airplane to the first pilot. The first pilot returned to the Birchwood Airport for a landing on runway 19. Mr. Weiss related he was communicating on the radio, announcing their intention to land on runway 19 on the common traffic advisory frequency. He said the first pilot was flying the airplane. Mr. Weiss said the first pilot touched down just short of the landing threshold, the main landing gear wheels sank in the snow, and the airplane nosed over.
A written statement submitted by the first pilot (attached), essentially reiterates information provided by the FAA inspector and the pilot-rated passenger.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5654N
- Reported as
- Maule M-5
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7465C
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- James C. Glascow
- Registered owner
- William E. Stevenson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- BCV
- Airport
- BCV · Birchwood, runway 19, 4,100 × 48 ft, asphalt
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
- 67
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 360 total · 30 in this make and model · 360 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 23 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BCV
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.