- Date
- August 28, 1999, 15:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Kotzebue, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N770ASMaule M-7
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 22, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19990828026099A
- Case key
- 47324
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
An in-flight collision with a bird.
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 airline transport certificated pilot was completing a cross-country positioning flight, and decided to fly about 200 feet agl above a small lake. A large brown bird collided with the left wing tip of the airplane. After landing, the pilot discovered the wing tip faring was missing. The outboard end of the wing and the left aileron were damaged during the impact.
Factual narrative
On August 28, 1999, about 1530 Alaska daylight time, a float equipped Maule M-7 airplane, N770AS, sustained substantial damage after an in-flight collision with a bird, about 8 miles east of Kotzebue, Alaska, about latitude 66 degrees, 52 minutes north, and longitude 162 degrees, 13 minutes west. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country positioning flight under Title 14 CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by Arctic Air Guides Flying Service, Kotzebue. The airline transport certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. A VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated from a remote area along the Selawik River, about 1412.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on August 30, 1999, the pilot reported he was returning to Kotzebue, and decided to fly about 200 feet agl above a small lake. A large brown bird collided with the left wing tip of the airplane. After landing, he discovered the wing tip faring was missing. The outboard end of the wing and the left aileron were damaged during the impact.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N770AS
- Reported as
- Maule M-7
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 4017C
- Airframe hours
- 1,495
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-W1A5D, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Operator
- Arctic Air Guide Flying Svc.
- Registered owner
- Lawrence C. Maxson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 20, 1999 · 25 hours before
- Departed
- Selawik River, AK
- Destination
- PAOT
- Flight plan
- 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
- 60
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 18,400 total · 795 in this make and model · 18,272 as pilot in command · 203 in the last 90 days · 39 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 325° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.