- Date
- June 30, 1998, 18:30 local (Jul 1, 1998, 02:30 UTC)
- Place
- Hope, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N9809YChampion 7GCB
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 30, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19980630024809A
- Case key
- 3171
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 landing/takeoff area. Contributing factors were the stream crossing the airstrip and the embankment.
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 commercial pilot was departing from a remote airstrip, estimated to be about 1200 feet long. He stated that while on the takeoff roll, the airplane passed through a small stream flowing across the airstrip, slowing the airplane's takeoff run. The airplane failed to become airborne and struck an embankment at the end of the airstrip. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage.
Factual narrative
On June 30, 1998, about 1830 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Champion 7GCB airplane, N9809Y, sustained substantial damage during takeoff from a remote airstrip, about 20 miles southwest of Hope, 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 commercial pilot/owner, and the one passenger aboard, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the Merrill Field Airport, Anchorage, Alaska, about 1700.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge, on July 1, the pilot reported that he was departing from a remote airstrip, estimated to be about 1200 feet long. He stated that while on the takeoff roll, the airplane passed through a small stream flowing across the airstrip, slowing the airplane's takeoff run. The airplane failed to become airborne and struck an embankment at the end of the airstrip.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9809Y
- Reported as
- Champion 7GCB
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7GCB-46
- Airframe hours
- 3,100
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Keith Webster Ham
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 12, 1997
- Departed
- MRI · Anchorage, AK
- Destination
- SWD · Seward, AK
- Airport
- Chickaloon Flats, runway 14, 1,200 × 100 ft, dirt
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
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 500 total · 8 in this make and model · 406 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
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 N9809Y · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.