- Date
- September 27, 1998, 17:00 local (Sep 28, 1998, 01:00 UTC)
- Place
- Igiugig, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N3482CCessna 170B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 30, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19980927026849A
- Case key
- 44041
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 failure to maintain directional control of the aircraft. Contributing factors were the crosswind condition, the pilot's lack of total experience in make/model of the aircraft, and the pilot not achieving a climb on takeoff.
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 an off airport landing site with a variable left crosswind. The pilot had recently purchased the airplane, and had accumulated about 15 hours in the make and model. The pilot said that the airplane lifted off about 2/3 of the distance down the takeoff area, and was too slow to climb. The left wing came up, and the right landing gear struck the ground.
Factual narrative
On September 27, 1998, about 1700 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 170B airplane, N3482C, sustained substantial damage when it collided with terrain during takeoff from an off airport landing site about 20 miles north of Igiugig, Alaska. The private pilot and sole passenger were not injured. The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight to hunt caribou. The flight was departing the landing site, returning to King Salmon, Alaska. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed.
The pilot told the NTSB investigator-in-charge during a telephone interview on September 28, and wrote in his NTSB Pilot / Operator report, that the winds were a variable left crosswind, and he tried to time his takeoff to use a headwind. The pilot estimated the length of the takeoff area to be about 1,000 feet. He said the airplane left the ground about 2/3 of the way down the takeoff area and was too slow to climb. He indicated the left wing came up, the right landing gear contacted the tundra, and the airplane settled to the ground.
The pilot had recently purchased the airplane, and had accumulated about 15 hours of experience in the make and model.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3482C
- Reported as
- Cessna 170B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25525
- Airframe hours
- 2,450
- Engine
- Continental O-300, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Scott D. Quist
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 22, 1998 · 20 hours before
- Destination
- AKN · King Salmon, 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
- 36
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,500 total · 15 in this make and model · 1,500 as pilot in command · 190 in the last 90 days · 60 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 10 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 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.
Other investigations on N3482C · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.