ANC98LA165

The pilot told the NTSB investigator-in-charge that he was returning from a hunting lodge with a load of moose meat. He indicated that there were no mechanical problems with the airplane, and the winds at cruise were 45 miles per hour. He described being on final approach to land, at 500 feet above the ground, and encountering a 'hellacious wind which tossed the airplane around like a leaf.' Witnesses on the ground described 'very windy conditions,' and 'the plane spinning into the water.' Weather observations from a station located five miles southwest of the accident site recorded surface winds gusting to 25 knots at the time of the accident. The weather forecast was for moderate to severe turbulence within 2,000 feet of the surface, and winds from the north gusting to 25 knots.

On September 29, 1998, at 1814 Alaska daylight time, a float equipped Maule ML-7 airplane, N6110C, sustained substantial damage when it impacted water in Scott Lake, Wasilla, Alaska. The solo commercial pilot sustained serious injuries. The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 as a business flight carrying moose meat from a hunting lodge. The flight departed the Mystic Lake Lodge, about 10 miles northeast of Farewell, Alaska, about 1645, and was returning to the pilot's home base on Island Lake, Wasilla. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed.

The pilot, hospitalized with spinal fractures, told the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC) during a telephone interview on October 1, that while on his return leg, the winds were from the north about 45 miles per hour. He described being about 500 feet above the ground (agl), on final approach to Island Lake, when he remembered a "hellacious wind." The wind "tossed the airplane around like a leaf, turned the airplane up on its side, and on its nose." He said that about 100 feet agl he thought he was pointed straight down, and that he did not remember the impact. The pilot did not recall any mechanical problems with the airplane. He confirmed these observations during a second interview on October 9.

A witness who observed the accident told an FAA inspector who arrived at the accident scene an hour after the accident, that he heard the airplane "coughing and sputtering" as it came over the trees. The witness said the airplane "entered a right turn, then spun into the water." A second witness who lives on Scott Lake described the conditions as "very windy, with swirls around the lake."

The National Weather Service Area Forecast for Cook Inlet and the Susitna Valley, Alaska, valid at the time of the accident, called for surface winds from the north gusting to 20-25 knots, occasional moderate turbulence below 8,000 feet, and isolated severe turbulence within 2,000 feet of the surface. These conditions were forecast to intensify.

The automated weather at New Wasilla airport, located five miles southwest of the accident, at 1800, recorded winds from 020 degrees at 15 knots, with peak gusts of 25 knots. At 1735, the weather observation at Talkeetna, Alaska, located about 40 miles northwest of the accident, included winds from 020 degrees at 12 knots, gusting to 21 knots.