- Date
- September 20, 2019, 14:45 local (22:45 UTC)
- Place
- Kotzebue, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N67112De Havilland Beaver DHC 2 MK.1
- Defining event
- Takeoff-rejected takeoff: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 13, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- Case key
- 100324
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 delayed decision to abort the takeoff from water after the airplane impacted a submerged object, which resulted in insufficient airspeed for liftoff and led to the pilot steering the airplane toward a mud embankment to avoid rocks.
Findings · 4
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, during takeoff from a lake and after the floats came up on the step, the right float struck a submerged bog, which resulted in a brief deceleration of airspeed. After the float cleared the submerged bog, the airplane accelerated again, but the airspeed was not sufficient for liftoff, so the pilot aborted the takeoff. As the airplane approached rocks at the edge of the lake, he steered the airplane right onto a mud embankment, and the airplane slid to a stop short of an adjacent taxiway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. 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 of the float-equipped airplane reported that, during takeoff from a lake, after the floats came up on the step, the right float struck a submerged bog or tundra which resulted in a brief deceleration of speed. After the float cleared the submerged bog, the airplane accelerated again, but the airspeed was not sufficient for liftoff, so the pilot aborted the takeoff. As the airplane approached rocks at the north edge of the lake, he steered the airplane to the right onto a mud embankment and slid to a stop short of the adjacent airport's taxiway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N67112
- Reported as
- De Havilland Beaver DHC 2 MK.1 (No Series)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1046
- Built
- 1955
- Airframe hours
- 12,379.5
- Engine
- Prat & Whitney R-985, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Operator
- Arctic Air LLC
- Registered owner
- Arctic Air LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 23, 2019
- Departed
- OTZ · Kotzebue, AK
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- OTZ · Ralph Wien Memorial, runway 36, 3,876 × 90 ft
- Equipment
- 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
- 56
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Private, Commercial, Airline transport, 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 17, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 20,000 total · 1,500 in this make and model · 19,500 as pilot in command · 130 in the last 90 days · 98 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.48 inHg
- Observed at
- PAOT, 1 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 10, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 998 KB in all.
Other investigations on N67112 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.