- Date
- September 2, 1997, 17:00 local (Sep 3, 1997, 01:00 UTC)
- Place
- Kotzebue, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N185QBCessna 185
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 6, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19970902025739A
- Case key
- 3064
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 collapse/deflation of the right main tire when the tire slipped on the tire wheel rim which resulted in the collapse of the right main landing gear due to overload.
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 the tailwheel-equipped airplane in a remote area. The airplane was equipped with oversize tundra type tires inflated to about 12 PSI. An adhesive, applied between the main wheel rim and the tire, helps to prevent the tire from rotating independent of the wheel. The pilot indicated that during the landing roll on grassy terrain, the right tire rotated away from the wheel rim. The tire deflated and began vibrating. The right main landing gear then collapsed, and the right wing struck the ground.
Factual narrative
On September 2, 1997, about 1700 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire equipped Cessna 185, N185QB, crashed during landing at a remote area, about 30 miles north of Kotzebue, 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 airline transport pilot, and the sole passenger, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed.
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, Fairbanks Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), reported the airplane was damaged during landing along the Squirrel River.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on September, 9, 1997, at 1048, the pilot reported the airplane touched down in a grassy area. The airplane was equipped with oversize tires inflated to about 12 PSI. An adhesive, applied between the main wheel rim and the tire, helps to prevent the tire from rotating independent of the wheel. The pilot indicated that during the landing roll, the right tire rotated away from the wheel rim. The tire deflated and began vibrating. The right main landing gear then collapsed, and the right wing struck the ground.
The pilot did not return a pilot/operator report (NTSB report 6120.1/2).
Aircraft
- Registration
- N185QB
- Reported as
- Cessna 185
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 185-0131
- Engine
- Continental IO-520, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Alaska Island Air
- Registered owner
- Michael A. Spisak
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- OTZ · 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
- 34
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 9,000 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,500 ft overcast
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.