- Date
- September 24, 1998, 11:10 local (19:10 UTC)
- Place
- Mcgrath, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N2106APiper PA-20
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 30, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19980924026669A
- Case key
- 44018
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 failure of the pilot to maintain directional control during takeoff. Factors involved in the accident were a crosswind, and the trees adjacent to the takeoff area.
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 private pilot was taking off from a gravel bar with a narrow area free of obstructions and he reported a left crosswind condition. During the takeoff run, the airplane hit a berm, bounced into the air, and drifted to the right. The right wing contacted a tree, and the left tire hooked on a stump.
Factual narrative
On September 24, 1998, about 1110 Alaska daylight time, a Piper PA-20 airplane, N2106A, sustained substantial damage during takeoff from an off airport gravel bar, about 42 miles southeast of McGrath, Alaska, near position 62 degrees 30 minutes North latitude, 154 degrees 20 minutes West longitude. The private pilot and sole passenger were uninjured. The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight from a hunting camp to Farewell, Alaska. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed.
The accident pilot, and the pilot of another airplane who was using the same gravel bar, related to the NTSB investigator-in-charge during a telephone interview on September 25, that there was a left crosswind. During the takeoff roll, the airplane bounced, drifted to the right, the right wing contacted trees, and the left wheel hooked on a tree stump. The pilot and witness described the gravel bar as 1,000 feet long, but the area free of obstructions was narrow.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2106A
- Reported as
- Piper PA-20
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20-886
- Airframe hours
- 3,710
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Paul Downes
- Registered owner
- Donna L. Downes
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 30, 1998 · 40 hours before
- Destination
- FWL · Farewell, 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
- 48
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Expired
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 716 total · 700 in this make and model · 650 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.