- Date
- September 11, 1998, 15:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Big Lake, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N43140Taylorcraft BC12D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 16, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19980911023739A
- Case key
- 43980
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 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 certificated private pilot was conducting touch and go landings in a float equipped airplane. The pilot indicated that during the landing approach, the airplane developed a sink rate that 'felt mushy.' The pilot added engine power and aligned the airplane with the water. The right wing dropped, and the tip of the right float dug into the water. The right float assembly was torn off the fuselage, and the right wing struck the water. The airplane then sank.
Factual narrative
On September 11, 1998, about 1530 Alaska daylight time, a float equipped Taylorcraft airplane, N43140, sustained substantial damage while landing on a lake, about 6 miles southeast of Big Lake, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) local area personal flight when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the pilot. The certificated private pilot, and the sole passenger, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated from an adjacent lake about 1526.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on September 12, 1998, at 1300, the pilot said he departed Papoose Lake, and was performing touch and go landings on Crooked Lake. During the landing touchdown, the tip of the right float dug into the water. The right float assembly was torn off the fuselage, and the right wing struck the water. The airplane then sank.
In the pilot/operator report (NTSB form 6120.1/2) submitted by the pilot, he indicated that during the landing approach, the airplane developed a sink rate that "felt mushy." The pilot reported he added engine power and aligned the airplane with the water. The right wing dropped, and the right float dug into the water.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N43140
- Reported as
- Taylorcraft BC12D
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 6799
- Engine
- Continental C-85-8F, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- John D. Hensel
- Registered owner
- Vectored Services
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 30, 1998
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
- 54
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,000 total · 4 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 10 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- 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.