Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Whittier Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Whittier, Alaska 99693
Saturday, February 24, 2001 17:50 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial certificated pilot landed a wheel airplane on a runway covered with several feet of snow. The airplane nosed down, and received damage to the left wing, the left aileron, the nose wheel strut assembly, and the firewall. The runway had accumulated between 4 and 5 feet of snow, and it had not been plowed. According to the Airport Facility Directory/Alaska Supplement, the description of the airport contains a caution, that states: "Runway condition not monitored, recommend visual inspection prior to landing. No winter maintenance. Closed from first snowfall until after breakup." The airplane was found the following day of the accident, unoccupied, by a local police officer. The police officer located persons at a local hotel who were pointed out by other patrons as being the pilot and passenger of the accident airplane. When the pilot was asked about the circumstances of the accident, the pilot refused all information, including his identity, and that of the passenger. The pilot referred all questions to his attorney. After contacting the pilot's attorney, no additional information was provided to the police.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning/preparation, and his selection of unsuitable terrain for landing. A factor in the accident was snow-covered terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/24/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1750 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | Whittier |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99693 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 604638N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1484317W |
| Event Location Airport | WHITTIER |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PAWR |
| 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 | 30 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1745 Atlantic Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAWR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 30 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | AST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.71 |
| 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) | 10441 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 25 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1158 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 7 2001 7:32AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | AL-ANC-FSDO 03 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3032G |
| NTSB Number | ANC01LA038 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Forney |
| Aircraft Model | F-1A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5727 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1400 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 27 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | EDWARD J. YOUNG |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1303 W. 33RD, SUITE 200 |
| Aircraft Owner City | ANCHORAGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99503 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | William T. Sigler |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 13641 Elmor Rd. |
| Operator City | Anchorage |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99516 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PAMR |
| Departure City | Anchorage |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1720 |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CKU |
| Destination City | Cordova |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 14 2001 3:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | RANS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21 |
| Runway Length | 1480 |
| Runway Width | 58 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |