- Date
- May 18, 1997, 14:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Yakutat, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N230BCessna TU206A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 29, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19970518016099A
- Case key
- 3013
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 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 was landing on a remote beach. During the landing roll, the nosewheel encountered soft sand. The nosewheel broke off the front landing gear strut, and the left wing struck the sand. The airplane received damage to the left wing rear spar.
Factual narrative
On May 18, 1997, about 1400 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Cessna TU-206A, N230B, crashed during landing on a remote area of beach, about 25 miles east of Yakutat, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country personal flight when the accident occurred. The airplane, operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. The certificated private pilot, and the sole passenger, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the Yakutat airport, about 1330.
On May 19, 1997, the pilot reported in a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), that he was landing on a beach in the Akwe River area. During the landing roll, the nose wheel encountered soft sand. The nose wheel broke off the front landing gear strut, and the left wing struck the sand. On June 2, 1997, the pilot reported that a subsequent inspection of the airplane revealed the left wing rear spar was bent at the inboard attach point.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N230B
- Reported as
- Cessna TU206A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- U-206-0625
- Airframe hours
- 3,247
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-520-C, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Bobby C. Pate
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 7, 1997 · 15 hours before
- Departed
- YAK
- Destination
- Akwe River, AK
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
- 51
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 450 total · 150 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °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 N230B · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.