Driftwood Bay Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Dutch Harbor, Alaska 99692
Sunday, June 24, 2007 15:00 AKD

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot had dropped off passengers, and was taking off to return to the base airport under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The pilot said he was departing on a hard surface runway in an amphibious, tailwheel equipped airplane. He said after the tailwheel lifted off, he believed a quartering gust of tailwind pushed the airplane off the runway. He said he tried to maintain directional control, but the airplane's right main landing gear encountered a tundra mound, and the airplane nosed over. The pilot said the right wing separated from the airplane during the accident. There were no known mechanical anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions during the takeoff roll, which resulted in a loss of directional control and a nose over.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/24/2007
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1500
Event Time Zone --
Event City Dutch Harbor
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99692
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 535819N
Event Location Longitude 1665100W
Event Location Airport Driftwood Bay
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DFB
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 --
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 15
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 20
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.96
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21990
NTSB Notification Source FAA Anchorage, ROC
NTSB Notification Date Jun 24 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Aug 30 2007 12:18PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7811
NTSB Number ANC07CA053
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Grumman
Aircraft Model G21A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number B-122
Certified Max Gross Weight 9200
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 8
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Jun 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 17294
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Peninsula Airways Inc
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Anchorage
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
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 --
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code DFB
Departure City Dutch Harbor
Departure State AK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone ADT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code DUT
Destination City Dutch Harbor
Destination State AK
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - roll/run
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 17 2007 7:22PM
User who most recently changed record LABJ
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 30
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --