Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Port Alsworth, Alaska 99653
Sunday, September 1, 2002 9:00 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private certificated pilot departed a remote lake in a float-equipped airplane, en route to another lake. The route of flight crossed a mountain saddle about 5 miles from the point of departure. After takeoff, the pilot reported that he gained sufficient altitude to clear the mountain saddle. The pilot said that as he crossed the saddle, the airplane encountered a violent downdraft that unexpectedly resulted in a loss of several hundred feet of altitude. He said he was unable to arrest the airplane's descent, and maneuvered the airplane to avoid a low hill. The airplane collided with tree-covered terrain on the side of the mountain, and then nosed over. The pilot indicated he did not obtain a weather briefing. He reported that the weather conditions included unlimited visibility, a temperature of 50 degrees F, a wind of 3 to 5 knots from the north, no precipitation, no turbulence, and little to no wind at the departure point. The area forecast indicated no significant turbulence. The closest official weather observation station was 14 miles away, and a METAR was reporting in part: Wind, calm; visibility, 20 statute miles in light rain; clouds and sky condition, 3,000 feet broken, 5,500 feet overcast; altimeter, 29.91 inHg.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate evaluation of the area weather conditions, and his subsequent inability to maintain terrain clearance upon encountering a downdraft, which resulted in an in-flight collision with tree-covered mountainous terrain. A factor in the accident was a downdraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/1/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 900 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | PORT ALSWORTH |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99653 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 600642N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1544018W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 848 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PALJ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 100 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| 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) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 3 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13129 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA REGIONAL OPERATIONS CENTER |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 1 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 910 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 18 2003 4:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-AL-ANC FSDO 03 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N185CF |
| NTSB Number | ANC02LA110 |
| 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 | 185 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 02676 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3350 |
| 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 | Jun 15 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 40 |
| Airframe Hours | 2599 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DAVID RENKOSKI |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | ANCHORAGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99504 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | PORT ALSWORTH |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 850 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 28 2003 3:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PETL |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |