Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Portage Creek Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Portage Creek, Alaska 99576
Monday, July 11, 1994 12:40 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
ACCORDING TO A WITNESS, THE AIRPLANE WAS HEAVILY LOADED WITH PASSENGERS & BAGGAGE. THE PILOT ELECTED TO TAKE OFF EAST ON A 1920' SOFT WET RUNWAY WITH A 2-DEGREE UPSLOPE, WHICH ENDED AT A STEEP DROP-OFF. ABOUT 20 MILES EAST AT DILLINGHAM, THE 1147 ADT WIND WAS FROM 060 DEGREES AT 5 KNOTS. THE WITNESS SAID THAT THE WIND WAS FROM THE EAST WITH GUSTS TO 20 KNOTS & THAT THE AIRPLANE ACCELERATED SLOWLY DURING THE TAKEOFF ROLL. TIRE MARKS (MATCHING THE AIRPLANE) SHOWED THAT IT LIFTED OFF 261' BEFORE THE END OF THE RUNWAY. AFTER LIFT-OFF, THE AIRPLANE SETTLED IN A DESCENDING LEFT TURN & CRASHED. NO PREIMPACT MECHANICAL FAILURE WAS EVIDENT. THE AIRPLANE'S WEIGHT & BALANCE WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 4011 POUNDS WITH A CENTER-OF-GRAVITY (CG) OF 97.8 INCHES. ITS MAXIMUM CERTIFICATED GROSS WEIGHT WAS 3600 POUNDS WITH A CG RANGE OF 90 TO 95 INCHES.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PLANNING AND PREPARATION, AND HIS FAILURE TO ENSURE THAT THE AIRPLANE WAS WITHIN ITS GROSS WEIGHT AND CENTER-OF-GRAVITY LIMITS, WHICH RESULTED IN AN INABILITY TO OBTAIN SUFFICIENT AIRSPEED FOR SUSTAINED FLIGHT AND A RESULTANT STALL/MUSH. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS: THE SOFT/WET/UPHILL RUNWAY CONDITION.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/11/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1240 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | PORTAGE CREEK |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99576 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | PORTAGE CREEK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 70 |
| Airport Elevation | 137 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 20 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1143 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 11 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1315 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 11:39AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8297X |
| NTSB Number | ANC94FA080 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32-301 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-32-301 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-8006077 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 43 |
| Airframe Hours | 9486 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PENINSULA AIRWAYS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4851 A AIRCRAFT DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | ANCHORAGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99502 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | PNSA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DLG |
| Destination City | DILLINGHAM |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 9 |
| Runway Length | 1920 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |