Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Yakutat, Alaska 99689
Thursday, July 8, 2004 12:05 AKD

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The private certificated pilot with three passengers, was landing on a remote sand-covered beach site. The pilot reported that before the accident landing, he did a touch-and-go-landing to check the sand condition. After the successful touch-and-go landing on the beach, he landed to the southeast. During the landing roll, the tires encountered soft sand, and the nose landing gear collapsed. The airplane subsequently nosed over, and received structural damage to the vertical stabilizer, rudder, and fuselage. The pilot noted that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's selection of an unsuitable landing area, which resulted in the collapse of the landing gear, and subsequent nose over during the landing roll. A factor associated with the accident was soft terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/8/2004
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1205
Event Time Zone --
Event City Yakutat
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99689
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator --
On Ground Collision occurred ? --
Event Location Latitude 592442N
Event Location Longitude 1393015W
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 Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1153 Atlantic Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID YAK
Elevation of weather observation facility 33
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation ADT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 20000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 15000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 20
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.98
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 4
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 17242
NTSB Notification Source ANC FAA ROC
NTSB Notification Date Jul 8 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1230
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 24 2005 9:13AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Juneau FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N172JL
NTSB Number ANC04LA074
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 172
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17257724
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
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 Jul 1 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 3777
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Chase W. Springer
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1430 Tierra Grande Drive
Aircraft Owner City Anchorage
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99654
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 YAK
Departure City Yakutat
Departure State AK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1150
Departure Time Zone ADT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Yakutat
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 --
User who most recently changed record --
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 --