- Date
- August 2, 1997, 16:00 local (Aug 3, 1997, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Port Ashton, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N9044MCessna 180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 10, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19970802025819A
- Case key
- 3039
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. Factors associated with the accident were the tailwind and soft terrain.
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
After landing on a beach, the pilot turned downwind to taxi. The airplane's wheels contacted soft sand, and the airplane nosed over.
Factual narrative
On August 2, 1997, at 1600 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 180 tailwheel equipped airplane, N9044M, sustained substantial damage when it nosed over in soft sand while taxiing from landing at Patton Bay, Montague Island, about 19 miles east of Port Ashton, Alaska, at position 59-55.0 degrees north latitude, 147-30.0 degrees west longitude. The airline transport certificated pilot and single passenger were uninjured. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight from Palmer to Montague Island, and visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
The pilot stated that after landing on the beach, he turned to taxi up the beach with a quartering tailwind. The wheels contacted soft sand and the airplane nosed over, damaging the propeller and aft wing spars.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9044M
- Reported as
- Cessna 180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 180-52144
- Airframe hours
- 3,330
- Engine
- Continental O-470-50, 265 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Dale B. Olsen
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 25, 1997 · 45 hours before
- Departed
- PAQ · Palmer, AK
- Flight plan
- 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
- 52
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight engineer
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 17,000 total · 930 in this make and model · 10,000 as pilot in command · 106 in the last 90 days · 71 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 10 knots, gusting 15
- 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.