- Date
- August 7, 1999, 23:00 local (Aug 8, 1999, 07:00 UTC)
- Place
- Bettles, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N731UWCessna A188-B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 29, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19990807011669A
- Case key
- 47156
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 selection of unsuitable terrain for landing. A factor was soft terrain.
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 commercial certificated pilot was landing at a remote mining airstrip to repair an area of soft ground on the strip. The pilot reported that rain was falling at the time. The airstrip is about 1,000 feet long, and 50 feet wide, at an elevation of 1,120 feet msl. During the landing roll after touchdown, the left main tire entered the area of soft ground. The airplane ground looped to the left, and received damage to the right wing, the right horizontal stabilizer, and the right elevator.
Factual narrative
On August 7, 1999, about 2300 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Cessna A188-B airplane, N731UW, sustained substantial damage during landing at a remote mining airstrip, about 50 miles north of Bettles, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country personal flight under Title 14 CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred. The airplane was registered to Allwest Freight Corp., Flat, Alaska, and operated by the pilot. The commercial certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the Nenana Municipal Airport, Nenana, Alaska, about 2130.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on August 9, 1999, the pilot reported he was landing toward the south at the mine airstrip. The airstrip is oriented north/south, and is about 1,000 feet long, and 50 feet wide, at an elevation of 1,120 feet msl. The pilot said rain was falling, and he was flying to the airstrip to repair an area of soft ground on the strip. During the landing roll, the left main tire entered the area of soft ground. The airplane ground looped to the left, and received damage to the right wing, the right horizontal stabilizer, and the right elevator.
The pilot did not submit a Pilot/Operator report (NTSB form 6120.1/2).
Aircraft
- Registration
- N731UW
- Reported as
- Cessna A188-B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18803175T
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- William H. Michel
- Registered owner
- Allwest Freight Corp.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- ENN · Nenana, 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
- 50
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 20,000 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 61 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.