Tuntutuliak Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Tuntutuliak, Alaska 99680
Friday, October 13, 2006 15:12 AKD

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The commercial certificated pilot was attempting to land on a remote runway during a Title 14, CFR Part 135, cargo flight. The approach end of the runway is located at the edge of a river. During the pilot's fourth attempt to land, the airplane collided with the river embankment, and sustained structural damage. The director of operations for the operator reported that he interviewed several witnesses to the accident. They told him that the weather conditions in the area had been good VFR, but as the pilot was attempting to land, rain and mist moved over the area, reducing the visibility to about 1/4 mile. Within 30 minutes of the accident, the weather conditions were once again VFR. The pilot told an FAA inspector that the weather conditions consisted of a 500 foot ceiling and 2 miles of visibility. The pilot reported that he made 3 passes over the runway before attempting to land. On the last landing approach, while maintaining 80 knots airspeed, the pilot said the nose of the airplane dropped, he applied full power and tried to raise the nose, but the airplane collided with the river bank.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's misjudgment of distance/altitude during the landing approach, which resulted in an undershoot and in-flight collision with a river embankment. Factors contributing to the accident were reduced visibility due to rain and mist.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/13/2006
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1512
Event Time Zone --
Event City Tuntutuliak
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99680
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 602007N
Event Location Longitude 1624001W
Event Location Airport Tuntutuliak
Event Location Nearest Airport ID A61
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 16
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Witness
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 --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Obscured
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 0.25
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 4
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21411
NTSB Notification Source FAA Regional Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Oct 13 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 29 2007 12:24PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA-AL-ANC FSDO 03

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7336U
NTSB Number ANC07LA003
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed Company VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 207
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 20700405
Certified Max Gross Weight 3800
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 7
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 61
Airframe Hours 21781
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Maritime Sales and Leasing
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. Box 217
Aircraft Owner City Newnan
Aircraft Owner State GA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 30263
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Flight Alaska Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 1515 E. Tudor, Suite 4
Operator City Anchorage
Operator State AK
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 99507
Operator Code YAAA
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 Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Cargo
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code PABE
Departure City Bethel
Departure State AK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1443
Departure Time Zone ADT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code A61
Destination City Tuntutuliak
Destination State AK
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Approach - VFR pattern - final approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 12 2007 10:26PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 20
Runway Length 1772
Runway Width 28
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --