- Date
- September 5, 2017, 15:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Chicken, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N734GWCessna U206
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Dragged wing/rotor/float/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 11, 2018
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20170905020729A
- Case key
- 96083
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 failure to maintain clearance from a sign while taking off from a road.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that, while taking off from a road, the airplane struck a road sign with its left wing. He explained that, during takeoff, the airplane had accelerated rapidly and that, in the next moment, he felt a lurch to the left. The parking brake, which he had forgotten to release, then released. He added that he had "incorrectly assumed" that the brake had grabbed and caused the lurch, not the unknown to him, sign strike. Subsequently, he corrected with rudder and continued the flight. He added that the airplane flew "normally" but that it had a "slightly left-wing heavy feel." He continued the flight without further incident. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that it had sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that, while taking off from a road, the airplane struck a road sign with its left wing. He explained that, during takeoff the airplane had accelerated rapidly and in the next moment he felt a lurch to the left and at that moment the parking brake, which he had forgotten to release, released. He added that, he had "incorrectly assumed" that the brake had grabbed and caused the lurch, not the unknown to him, sign strike. Subsequently, he corrected with rudder and continued the flight. He added that, the airplane flew "normally," but that it had a "slightly left-wing heavy feel". He continued the flight without further incident. A post-accident examination revealed the airplane had sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N734GW
- Reported as
- Cessna U206 (G)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- U20604832
- Built
- 1978
- Engine
- Continental IO-550, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Departed
- Chicken, AK
- Destination
- 6K8 · Tok, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Handheld GPS
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
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 1, 2017
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 7,500 total · 5,500 in this make and model · 7,000 as pilot in command · 360 in the last 90 days · 120 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,600 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.85 inHg
- Observed at
- PAEG, 29 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 4, 2017, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.7 MB in all.
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 N734GW · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.