- Date
- June 9, 1998, 20:30 local (Jun 10, 1998, 04:30 UTC)
- Place
- Skwentna, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N2902QCessna 185
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 15, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19980609021349A
- Case key
- 3155
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 inadequate compensation for wind conditions. Factors associated with the accident are wind gusts, and a crosswind condition.
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 certificated private pilot was step taxiing to the west in preparation for a departure to the south. The pilot noted that after the airplane passed beyond an area of shoreline that was protecting the airplane from a left crosswind, a sudden gust of wind lifted the left wing. The right wing struck the water, pivoted the airplane to the right, and the left wing struck the water. The right and left wings sustained substantial damage. The pilot stated that wind conditions at the time of the accident were from varying directions with peak gusts to 10 knots.
Factual narrative
On June 9, 1998, about 2030 Alaska daylight time, a float equipped Cessna 185 airplane, N2902Q, sustained substantial damage while step taxiing at a remote lake located about 10 miles north of Skwentna, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under Title 14 CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred. The certificated private pilot/airplane owner and the one passenger aboard were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated at Seymour Lake, Wasilla, about 1430.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on June 10, the pilot reported that he was step taxiing to the west in preparation for a departure to the south. The pilot noted that after the airplane passed beyond an area of shoreline that was protecting the airplane from a left crosswind, a sudden gust of wind lifted the left wing. The right wing struck the water, pivoted the airplane to the right, and the left wing struck the water. The right and left wings sustained substantial damage.
The pilot reported that wind conditions at the time of the accident were from varying directions with peak gusts to 10 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2902Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 185
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18503539
- Airframe hours
- 1,863
- Engine
- Continental IO-540-S1A5, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Grant Debs Webley
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 3, 1998 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- Wasilla, AK
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
- 46
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 788 total · 231 in this make and model · 692 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 5 knots, gusting 10
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft broken
- 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.