- Date
- July 16, 1997, 13:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Gakona, AK
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N83675Piper PA-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 4, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19970716018659A
- Case key
- 3027
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 a tailwheel and tundra tire equipped airplane on a rocky mountain ridge at 5,400 feet mean sea level. The landing area was about 600 feet long and 50 feet wide. The pilot was landing in a westerly direction and during touchdown the right main landing gear tire struck a rock. The right main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane nosed over. The pilot described the wind conditions as light and variable.
Factual narrative
On July 16, 1997, about 1300 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire equipped Piper PA-18 airplane, N83675, crashed during landing on remote mountainous terrain, about 20 miles east of Gakona, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) on-demand passenger flight under Title 14 CFR Part 135 when the accident occurred. The airplane, registered to and operated by McMahan Guide and Flying Service, Gakona, sustained substantial damage. The certificated commercial pilot received minor injuries. The sole passenger was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. VFR company flight following procedures were in effect. The flight originated at Gakona about 1230.
On July 16, 1997, at 1807, the pilot reported in a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), he was landing on a rocky mountain ridge of Mount Drum, at 5,400 feet mean sea level. The landing area was about 600 feet long, and 50 feet wide. The pilot was landing in a westerly direction and during the landing touch down, the right main gear tire struck a rock. The right main gear collapsed, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane received damage to the fuselage, vertical stabilizer, and rudder. The pilot described the wind conditions as light and variable.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N83675
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7709116
- Airframe hours
- 3,980
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Mcmahan Guide, Flying Service
- Registered owner
- Harley B. Mcmahan
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 20, 1997 · 40 hours before
- Departed
- 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
- 45
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 25,000 total · 24,500 in this make and model · 25,000 as pilot in command · 350 in the last 90 days · 100 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,500 ft broken
- 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.