Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Yakataga Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cape Yakataga, Alaska 99695
Wednesday, September 24, 2003 16:00 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airline transport certificated air taxi pilot was positioning the airplane to pickup passengers at a remote airstrip. He reported that he encountered low level turbulence and strong winds during the approach to land, and was unsure if he could complete the landing. As he turned the airplane onto the final approach segment, he said the turbulence diminished, and he elected to land. He indicated that there was a large pool of water on the runway, and he decided to land longer than normal in order to miss the water. Soon after passing the water pool, the airplane settled to the runway, with the landing gear still retracted. The pilot said there were no mechanical problems with the airplane, and that he simply forgot to lower the landing gear. He said the gear up warning horn did not activate because of the increased power setting he used to fly over the pool of water. He indicated he became distracted during the approach to land because of the turbulence and the water on the runway, and neglected to complete the prelanding checklist.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to follow the prelanding checklist, which resulted in a wheels up landing when he neglected to lower the airplane's landing gear. A factor in the accident was the pilot's diverted attention associated with turbulence and a wet airstrip.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/24/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Cape Yakataga |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99695 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 600455N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1422937W |
| Event Location Airport | YAKATAGA |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CYT |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 60 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 135 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 25 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 30 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15053 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA, ANC ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 24 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1923 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2004 8:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Juneau |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N27987 |
| NTSB Number | ANC03LA125 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-31-310 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 31-7912054 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6500 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 12 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 27 |
| Airframe Hours | 14573 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Inuit Air, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 285 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kotzebue |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99752 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Alaska Air Taxi, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4501 Aircraft Drive |
| Operator City | Anchorage |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ANC |
| Departure City | Anchorage |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | CYT |
| Destination City | Cape Yakataga |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 11 2004 3:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PETL |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 07 |
| Runway Length | 4350 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |