- Date
- August 30, 1997, 19:50 local (Aug 31, 1997, 03:50 UTC)
- Place
- Kotzebue, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N93276Cessna 185F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 6, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19970830024949A
- Case key
- 3057
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 an unsuitable landing area. A factor was the short length of the off-airport site.
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 landing the tundra tire equipped airplane on a 600 feet long x 75 feet wide gravel landing area. The pilot stated that the off-airport site was too short to stop, so he attempted to ground loop to the left to avoid running off the end into a drop off. The right wing and right stabilizer contacted the ground.
Factual narrative
On August 30, 1997, at 1950 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire equipped Cessna 185F airplane, N93276, was substantially damaged when its right wing and right horizontal stabilizer contacted terrain at the end of an off-airport landing site, 28 miles northeast of Kotzebue, Alaska, at position 67-35 degrees north latitude, 161-47 west longitude. The commercial certificated pilot and one passenger were uninjured. The airplane was operated by Mavrik Aire of Soldotna, Alaska. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 as a business flight preparing camps for the upcoming hunting season. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a flight plan was filed with a local lodge owner.
During an interview with the NTSB investigator, the pilot stated that he and an employee were landing at the 600 feet long x 75 feet wide site, in calm winds, and were not able to stop before reaching the end. The terrain steeply dropped off at the end of the landing area. The pilot attempted to ground loop the airplane to the left, the airplane tipped up on the right wing, and the right wing and right horizontal stabilizer struck the ground.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N93276
- Reported as
- Cessna 185F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 185-03208
- Airframe hours
- 6,000
- Engine
- Continental IO-520D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Craig M. Schweitzer, doing business as Mavrik Aire
- Registered owner
- Pat Lockhart
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 1, 1997 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- OTZ · AK
- Destination
- Squirrel River, 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
- 30
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 5,000 total · 2,500 in this make and model · 4,000 as pilot in command · 150 in the last 90 days · 50 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- 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.