Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Kotzebue Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kotzebue, Alaska 99752
Monday, August 13, 2001 10:49 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The certificated private pilot, with one passenger, was departing southbound from an airport under special VFR conditions. Witnesses reported that weather conditions to the south, and specifically in the direction of accident site, were momentarily much worse than that being reported at the airport. About two minutes after takeoff, the airplane collided with a 335 feet tall commerical radio antenna tower. The tower was situated about 395 feet above sea level, and located 4.3 nautical miles south of the departure airport. The tower was installed in 1986, and was depicted as an obstruction on the VFR aviation sectional map covering the area around the departure airport. The tower was painted in an alternating aviation orange/aviation white pattern. Two sets of red light fixtures were installed about the 110 and 220 feet levels. Each set of lights had two lamps. A large flashing red light fixture was installed at the top of the tower. One of the two light fixture lamps, located on the lower portion of the tower, was not operating, and was scheduled for replacement. However, the second light fixture lamp located at that this position was still operating. A light sensitive switch (photocell), was installed that would automatically turn the tower lights "ON" when the surrounding ambient light decreased, and would turn the tower lights "OFF" when ambient light increased. At the time of the accident, the lights were configured so that they were in the "ON" position 24 hours per day. The accident took place during daylight hours. The antenna complied with the governing FCC's rules and regulations regarding marking and lighting of antennas, as well as the FAA's obstruction standards.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate clearance from an obstruction (antenna tower), and his continued flight into instrument meteorological conditions. Factors associated with the accident were low ceilings, and low visibility.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/13/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1049 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Kotzebue |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99752 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 665000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1623300W |
| Event Location Airport | Kotzebue |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | OTZ |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4.3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 11 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1041 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OTZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 11 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 900 |
| 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) | 2.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.91 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12543 |
| NTSB Notification Source | ANC FAA, ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 13 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1208 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 16 2003 4:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fairbanks FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N56467 |
| NTSB Number | ANC01FA106 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Maule |
| Aircraft Model | M-6-235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7414C |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Arctic Camps And Equipment |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 9312 Vanguard Drive Suite # 200 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Anchorage |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99507 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | OTZ |
| Departure City | Kotzebue |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1848 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DEE |
| Destination City | Deering |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 23 2002 5:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |