- Date
- April 15, 1998, 11:45 local (19:45 UTC)
- Place
- Dutch Harbor, AK
- Injuries
- 9 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N22932Grumman G-21
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 28, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19980415006889A
- Case key
- 3130
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-in-command's failure to identify the swells prior to landing. A factor was the water swells.
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 landed the seaplane in a protected bay in order to wait for the weather to improve at his destination. He said the wind and seas were calm; however, during landing, the seaplane encountered a swell. The seaplane porpoised, and the left horizontal stabilizer contacted the water.
Factual narrative
On April 15, 1998, at 1145 Alaska daylight time, a Grumman G-21 amphibious seaplane, N22932, sustained substantial damage during a water landing five miles northwest of the Unalaska Airport, Dutch Harbor, Alaska. There were no injuries to the airline transport certificated pilot, or the eight passengers. The flight was operated by Peninsula Airways, Inc., of Anchorage, Alaska, as scheduled commuter flight number 323. The flight was a return leg from Akutan, Alaska, and departed at 1120. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the Unalaska Airport, and the flight was holding in visual meteorological conditions outside the Class-E surface area.
The pilot stated during a telephone interview with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on April 15, 1998, that after holding for 15 minutes, he decided to land on the water in a protected bay to wait for improved weather. He reported the winds and seas as calm. After landing, the seaplane porpoised on a swell which the pilot had not identified. The left horizontal stabilizer struck the water during the porpoise and was damaged. The passengers were transported to Dutch Harbor via a rescue boat, and the seaplane was water taxied to the harbor.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N22932
- Reported as
- Grumman G-21
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- B-139
- Engine
- P&W R-985, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Peninsula Airways, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Akutan, AK
- Destination
- DUT · 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
- 34
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 7,136 total · 83 in this make and model · 6,862 as pilot in command · 83 in the last 90 days · 53 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N22932 · 3
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.