Lake Hood Strip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Anchorage, Alaska 99502
Friday, July 17, 2009 22:00 AKD

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot said that after landing he was attempting to taxi to another nearby airport to park and was confused by the taxi instructions given by the airport ground controller. He inadvertently taxied onto a roadway and that the setting sun, which was in his eyes, caused him not to see a warning sign on the right side of the roadway; the airplane's right wing then struck the sign. The pilot had exited the runway's parallel taxiway at midfield onto an airplane parking and fueling area. He taxied to a road transiting the parking area, and turned northwest on the road. The road narrowed at the boundary of the parking area and the pilot passed a "No Taxi" sign located on the left side of the road. The route from the runway to parking is along nonmovement areas, and progressive taxi instructions were thus not available. An interactive airport web site with detailed parking information and taxi diagrams was available on the internet. The appropriate route was to proceed west on the parallel taxiway to the taxilane which crosses the road taken by the pilot. The sign the airplane hit had flashing amber lights and warned of the taxilane crossing. A review of the published Federal Aviation Administration Alaska airports supplement for taxi instructions at the airport revealed the "taxiway is a joint use taxi/road and is used by motor vehicles/bicycles/joggers and tour buses."

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's unfamiliarity with the airport environment, which resulted in his taxiing the airplane onto a no-taxi section of roadway and into a road sign. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to avail himself of additional information that described the appropriate taxi routes on the airport.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/17/2009
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 2200
Event Time Zone --
Event City Anchorage
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99502
Event Date Year 2009
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 611122N
Event Location Longitude 1495755W
Event Location Airport Lake Hood Strip
Event Location Nearest Airport ID Z41
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 73
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 6500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
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) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.89
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) 26974
NTSB Notification Source FAA ANC ROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record May 26 2010 1:34PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7136Q
NTSB Number ANC09LA069
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 172L
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17260436
Certified Max Gross Weight 2500
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 5 2009 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 4659
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type C91-A
Aircraft Owner Name MCCANN MICHELLE K
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City ANCHORAGE
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99502-5189
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Smokey Bay AIr
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Homer
Operator State AK
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 99603
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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 HOM
Departure City Homer
Departure State AK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 2045
Departure Time Zone ADT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code Z41
Destination City Anchorage
Destination State AK
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record May 26 2010 1:34PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 31
Runway Length 2200
Runway Width 70
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --