- Date
- July 31, 1998, 13:31 local (21:31 UTC)
- Place
- Kodiak, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N1083HAeronca 15AC
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 2, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19980731019159A
- Case key
- 43544
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 weather evaluation and compensation for wind conditions. Factors associated with the accident are wind gusts, a sudden windshift to a tailwind, the pilot's failure to abort the takeoff, and an inadvertent stall/mush.
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 seaplane was taking off in variable direction, gusty crosswinds. According to the pilot, the initial headwind shifted to a crosswind, and then a tailwind during the 2,100 feet long takeoff water run. The pilot indicated that the airplane became airborne, and settled back to the water, with insufficient distance to stop. The pilot said he lifted the airplane off the water again, but the airplane lost altitude and airspeed, and struck an unoccupied shed in the departure path. He stated he should have taken off in the opposite direction, or delayed the departure until the winds had stabilized.
Factual narrative
On July 31, 1998, at 1331 Alaska daylight time, an Aeronca 15AC, float equipped airplane, N1083H, sustained substantial damage when it collided with an unoccupied storage shed during takeoff from the Lily Lake Seaplane Base, Kodiak, Alaska. The solo commercial pilot was not injured. The flight was operated by Cub Air, of Kodiak, under 14 CFR Part 91 as a positioning flight to pick up passengers. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a company flight plan was filed.
The pilot told the NTSB investigator-in-charge on July 31, 1998, that the gusty crosswinds and wind shifting from a headwind to a tailwind forced the plane onto the water without sufficient distance to stop before colliding with an obstacle on the shore of the departure end of Lily Lake. He stated that the engine was operating normally, and that he should have taken off to the northeast, instead of southwest, on the 2,100 feet long by 300 feet wide seadrome.
In his Pilot/Operator report, the pilot described the winds shifting from a headwind to a tailwind during the takeoff run. He further stated in this written report that he delayed his departure approximately one hour due to the crosswinds, but should have delayed longer until better, stabilized, winds prevailed. The pilot said that after settling back to the water during the takeoff run, the airplane became airborne again, and while attempting to climb over obstacles, lost altitude and airspeed, and struck a shed in the departure path.
Wind conditions at Kodiak International Airport, five miles southwest of the accident site, about the time of the accident, were reported to be from 300 degrees at 12 knots. The pilot described the winds at Lily Lake to be variable, at 10 knots gusting to 20 knots.
The runway for the Kodiak Municipal Airport is located at the immediate northeast end of the lake.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1083H
- Reported as
- Aeronca 15AC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15AC-102
- Airframe hours
- 6,894
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Burdette J. Lechner
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 1, 1998 · 73 hours before
- Departed
- 9Z3 · AK
- Destination
- T44 · Trident Basin, AK
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- 9Z3 · Kodiak Lily Lake Seaplane, runway 20, 2,100 × 300 ft, water
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
- 64
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 11,718 total · 1,511 in this make and model · 10,718 as pilot in command · 151 in the last 90 days · 62 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 12 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ADQ, 5 nm away
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 N1083H · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.