- Date
- August 16, 1999, 18:30 local (Aug 17, 1999, 02:30 UTC)
- Place
- Seward, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8841YPiper PA-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 5, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19990816012519A
- Case key
- 47165
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 sand.
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 on a remote beach to assess damage to a disabled airplane at the same location. The pilot said he landed in the area where a high tide had receded. During the landing roll, the main landing gear tires entered soft sand, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane received damage to the propeller, the left wing lift strut, and the rudder.
Factual narrative
On August 16, 1999, about 1830 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Piper PA-18 airplane, N8841Y, sustained substantial damage during a landing at a beach on Montague Island, about 58 miles east of Seward, Alaska. The area, known as Patton Bay, is located at latitude 59 degrees, 55 minutes north, and longitude 147 degrees, 30 minutes west. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country personal flight when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the pilot. The commercial certificated pilot, and the sole passenger, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the Lake Hood Strip, Anchorage, Alaska, about 1700.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on August 18, 1999, the pilot reported he was landing on the beach to assess damage to a disabled airplane at the same location. The pilot said he landed in the area where a high tide had receded. During the landing roll, the main landing gear tires entered soft sand, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane received damage to the propeller, the left wing lift strut, and the rudder.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8841Y
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7309025
- Airframe hours
- 1,700
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Dennis G. Pollard
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 25, 1999 · 15 hours before
- Departed
- Z41 · Anchorage, AK
- Destination
- Montague Island, 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
- 40
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,500 total · 800 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,500 ft overcast
- 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.