- Date
- September 1, 1997, 17:10 local (Sep 2, 1997, 01:10 UTC)
- Place
- King Salmon, AK
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N7032QCessna U206F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 6, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19970901026819A
- Case key
- 3061
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 takeoff area. Factors were the sand bar and the pilot's failure to use all available waterway for the takeoff.
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 aborted the first takeoff attempt in the seaplane when the pilot seat slipped aft. He did not back taxi the seaplane prior to beginning the second takeoff run. A passenger's video depicts the seaplane on the step, a passenger commenting on the shallow water, and the seaplane striking a sandbar located in the middle of the river. The seaplane came to rest inverted in shallow water.
Factual narrative
On September 1, 1997, about 1710, a float equipped Cessna U206F airplane, N7032Q, sustained substantial damage when it nosed over in water on the Alagnak River, 38 miles northeast of King Salmon, Alaska. The airline transport certificated pilot and two passengers were uninjured. The airplane was operated by Hartley, Inc., doing business as Branch River Air Service, of Anchorage, Alaska. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 135 as an on demand air taxi. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a company flight plan was filed.
Statements and a videotape taken by the passengers revealed that during the initial takeoff run, while on step, the pilot's seat slipped aft and he aborted the takeoff. He reset his seat, and did not water taxi the seaplane back to the original takeoff spot. The video depicts the seaplane beginning a second takeoff run, and the passengers can be heard commenting on the shallowness of the water. The seaplane then strikes a sandbar and noses over. This tape and overhead photographs show the seaplane inverted on a sandbar in shallow water.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7032Q
- Reported as
- Cessna U206F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- U20603067
- Airframe hours
- 8,556
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-F, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Hartley, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 28, 1997 · 15 hours before
- Departed
- AKN · AK
- Destination
- Alagnak 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
- 63
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine sea, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 20,000 total · 400 in this make and model · 14,000 as pilot in command · 200 in the last 90 days · 100 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 11, 1998, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.6 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.