- Date
- May 29, 1998, 14:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Kotzebue, AK
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N4761QCessna 185
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 15, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19980529016039A
- Case key
- 3175
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 instructor pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions. A factor associated with this accident was a downdraft prior to touchdown.
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 first pilot, a certificated flight instructor, was providing flight instruction and recurrent training to the second pilot, a certificated commercial pilot. The first pilot said that two successful landings were accomplished on the same sand bar prior to the accident. On the last approach to the south, and while the second pilot was manipulating the controls, the airplane encountered a downdraft, and landed in a river just short of the intended touchdown point. The airplane came to rest upside down in about 3 feet of water. Both pilots reported that the wind at the time of the accident was about 180 degrees at 10 knots.
Factual narrative
On May 29, 1998, about 1430 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Cessna 185 airplane, N4761Q, sustained substantial damage while landing on a sand bar, located about 35 miles north of Kotzebue, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) local area government flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The airplane is registered to the State of Alaska, and operated by the Alaska State Troopers. The first pilot, seated in the right seat, and the second pilot, seated in the left seat, both certificated commercial pilots, received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and VFR company flight following procedures were in effect. The flight originated at the Kotzebue Airport, about 1300.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on June 2, the first pilot, a Fish and Wildlife Protection Officer for the State of Alaska, reported that he was providing flight instruction and recurrent training to the second pilot, a pilot for the Alaska State Troopers. He said that two successful landings were accomplished on the same sand bar prior to the accident. On the last approach to the south, and while the second pilot was manipulating the controls, the airplane encountered a downdraft, and landed in a river just short of the intended touchdown point. The airplane came to rest upside down in about 3 feet of water. Both pilots exited the airplane and waded to shore. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and tail.
Both pilots reported that the wind at the time of the accident was about 180 degrees at 10 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4761Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 185
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 185-1226
- Airframe hours
- 9,488
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- State Of Alaska
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 28, 1998 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- OTZ · Kotzebue, AK
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
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
- 39
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 2,230 total · 1,005 in this make and model · 2,192 as pilot in command · 89 in the last 90 days · 45 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 40 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.
Other investigations on N4761Q · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.