Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Kipnuk Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kipnuk, Alaska 99614
Tuesady, January 23, 2001 13:30 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private certificated pilot/owner was landing at a remote airport. The purpose of the flight was to work on the FAA's VOR building at the destination airport. The pilot is an employee of the FAA's Airways Facilities Branch. The pilot said that his check of weather conditions included a wind report of 060 degrees at eight knots. Upon arrival over the airport, the pilot said he visually checked the wind sock at the airport. The wind sock frame appeared to be oriented about 150 degrees, but the tail of the sock was blowing at an angle. The wind appeared to be 060 degrees at 10 knots, with gusts to 15 knots. The pilot landed on runway 33, touching down at the approach end of the runway. The runway surface was icy, and about 300 feet after touchdown, the airplane was blown to the left. The pilot was unable to correct the left drift, and the airplane departed the left side of the runway, into an area of soft snow. The airplane nosed over, and received damage to the wings and vertical stabilizer. The remarks section of the airport facility directory/Alaska supplement notes that the airport is unattended, the runway condition is not monitored, the airport has frequent crosswinds, and the windsock at the south end of the airport is damaged, and not functioning properly.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate compensation for a crosswind during the landing roll. Factors in the accident were the presence of a crosswind, an icy runway and snow covered terrain, the pilot's inadequate preflight planning/preparation, and an inaccurate wind direction indicator.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/23/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | Kipnuk |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99614 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 595559N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1640150W |
| Event Location Airport | KIPNUK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PAKI |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 11 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.44 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10205 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 23 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1418 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2001 11:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | AL-ANC-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N737CU |
| NTSB Number | ANC01TA032 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17269321 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 9 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 80 |
| Airframe Hours | 988 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LANCE MILLER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 2283 |
| Aircraft Owner City | BETHEL |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99559 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Federal Aviation Administration |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 301 E. 56TH |
| Operator City | Anchorage |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99518 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PABE |
| Departure City | Bethel |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PAKI |
| Destination City | Kipnuk |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 20 2001 4:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 33 |
| Runway Length | 2120 |
| Runway Width | 35 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |