Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Noatak, Alaska 99761
Friday, August 22, 2003 21:30 AKD

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported he was landing his homebuilt tailwheel airplane at a remote, off-airport site. He said he made the landing approach too high and too fast, and the airplane touched down farther down the site than he intended. He was unable to stop it before it overran the end of the landing site and encountered brush and soft terrain. The main landing gear subsequently collapsed, and the airplane received structural damage to the left wing.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's misjudgment of the airplane's distance and speed, which resulted in the airplane not attaining the proper landing touchdown point and overrunning the landing site.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/22/2003
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 2130
Event Time Zone --
Event City Noatak
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99761
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 674800N
Event Location Longitude 1625500W
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 Not pertinent
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 Dusk
Lowest Ceiling Height 1500
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) 5
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) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Light
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) 14802
NTSB Notification Source FAA, ANC ROC
NTSB Notification Date Aug 25 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 727
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 2 2004 8:07AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Fairbanks

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N35CL
NTSB Number ANC03LA101
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 Cloud-Wag Aero
Aircraft Model Sportsmen
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 353
Certified Max Gross Weight 1792
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
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 Conditional
Date of Last Inspection May 1 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 26
Airframe Hours 460
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Zebulon R. Scherer
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Kotzebue
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99752
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 2100
Departure Time Zone ADT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Noatak
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 Jul 25 2005 9:21AM
User who most recently changed record JOND
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --