- Date
- June 8, 1998, 11:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Talkeetna, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N9247GCessna 188B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 17, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19980608015559A
- Case key
- 3152
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 failure to identify an unsafe/hazardous taxiway condition. A factor associated with this accident was the presence of rough and uneven terrain conditions.
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 had unloaded his cargo of fuel oil, and was preparing to depart the remote airstrip. While back taxiing prior to departure, the airplane's left main wheel hit a hole in the center of the airstrip. The airplane's tail veered to the right, and the left main gear leg collapsed. The left wing struck the runway and sustained substantial damage. The pilot said there were no preimpact mechanical difficulties with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On June 8, 1998 about 1100 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Cessna 188B airplane, N9247G, sustained substantial damage while taxiing at a remote airstrip, about 45 miles northwest of Talkeetna, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) business flight under Title 14 CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred. The solo commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and VFR company flight following procedures were in effect. The flight originated at the Willow Airport, Willow, Alaska, about 1030.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on June 8, the pilot reported that he had unloaded his cargo of fuel oil, and was preparing to depart. While back taxiing to the west prior to departure, the airplane's left main wheel hit a hole in the center of the airstrip. The airplane's tail veered to the right, and the left main gear leg collapsed. The left wing struck the runway and sustained substantial damage.
The pilot indicated there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9247G
- Reported as
- Cessna 188B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18801435T
- Airframe hours
- 4,200
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-D23, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Neil Burlson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 15, 1997 · 200 hours before
- Departed
- UUO · Willow, AK
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- Chelatna Airstrip, runway 9, 1,800 × 50 ft, gravel
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
- 28
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 3,900 total · 95 in this make and model · 3,820 as pilot in command · 160 in the last 90 days · 52 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Temperature
- 55 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.