- Date
- May 29, 1999, 15:20 local (23:20 UTC)
- Place
- Anchorage, AK
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N30CCde Havilland DHC 2 MK III
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 21, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19990529005959A
- Case key
- 46529
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 certificated flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the duel student. Factors associated with the accident were the student's inadvertent stall, and a surging turboshaft engine.
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 pilot-in-command, a certificated flight instructor, was providing turbine transition instruction to the second pilot. The accident airplane had been modified by the installation of a Pratt & Whitney PT6 turbine engine. The instructor pilot stated that the propeller governor control was causing 'the engine to surge.' He added that just prior to touchdown on runway 31, while the second pilot was manipulating the controls, the engine again surged, and the airplane landed hard. In the pilot-in-command's written report, and during a later telephone conversation, he reported that during the previous landings, the second pilot failed to 'carry power so as not to land hard again.' The first pilot said that he then instructed the second pilot as to the differences of a turbine engine vs. a piston engine. He wrote: 'I watched very closely until we were over the runway, and once again, quick as a cat, we stalled and hit hard.' The airplane's fuselage sustained substantial damage.
Factual narrative
On May 29, 1999, about 1520 Alaska daylight time, an amphibious float equipped DeHavilland DHC-2 airplane, N30CC, sustained substantial damage while landing at the Lake Hood airstrip, Anchorage, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) instructional flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The first pilot, seated in the right seat, the second pilot, seated in the left seat, and the two passengers aboard were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and VFR company flight following procedures were in effect.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on May 29, the first pilot, a certificated flight instructor, reported that he was providing turbine transition instruction to the second pilot. The accident airplane has been modified by the installation of a Pratt & Whitney PT6 turbine engine. The first pilot stated that during a previous flight that day the propeller governor control was causing "the engine to surge." The airplane returned to a maintenance facility where repairs were performed, and the airplane was returned to service. He added that about 45 minutes into the second flight, the engine again began to surge, and both pilots elected to once again return to the maintenance facility. The first pilot reported that just prior to touchdown on runway 31, while the second pilot was manipulating the controls, the engine again surged, and the airplane landed hard.
In the Pilot/Operator report (NTSB form 6120.1/2) filed by the pilot-in-command, and during a later telephone conversation, he reported that during the previous landings, the second pilot failed to "carry power so as not to land hard again." The first pilot said that he then instructed the second pilot as to the differences of a turbine engine vs. a piston engine. He wrote: "I watched very closely until we were over the runway, and once again, quick as a cat, we stalled and hit hard."
The airplane's fuselage sustained substantial damage.
Wind conditions at the time of the accident were reported to be 120 degrees at 4 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N30CC
- Reported as
- de Havilland DHC 2 MK III (DHC 2 MK I)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1566TB4
- Engine
- P&W PT6A-6A, 550 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- William A. Sego
- Registered owner
- Charles E. Cole
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 28, 1999 · 2 hours before
- Departed
- Z41
- Airport
- Z41 · Lake Hood Strip, runway 31, 2,200 × 70 ft, gravel
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
- 59
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Multi-engine sea, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 24,000 total · 1,500 in this make and model · 2,300 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 120° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PAL
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 N30CC · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.