Blue Sky Mine Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Fairbanks, Alaska 99709
Friday, September 16, 2011 18:15 AKD

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that he was landing his tailwheel-equipped airplane on a gravel airstrip. During the landing roll, the airplane ground-looped to the left and the right wing struck the ground, sustaining substantial damage. The pilot indicated that there were no preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane and that the accident could have been prevented with increased training time in tailwheel-equipped airplanes.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of experience/training in tailwheel-equipped airplanes.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/16/2011
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1815
Event Time Zone --
Event City Fairbanks
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99709
Event Date Year 2011
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 644832N
Event Location Longitude 1475114W
Event Location Airport Blue Sky Mine
Event Location Nearest Airport ID NA
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 1000
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 8000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 7
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
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) --
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) 29361
NTSB Notification Source FAA AAL Regional Operations Ce
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 1 2011 7:37PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4597C
NTSB Number ANC11CA104
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 170B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 25541
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 Jun 23 2011 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 5491
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name MACHIDA STEVEN
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City ANCHORAGE
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99511-0676
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name Travis Machida
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Anchorage
Operator State AK
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code --
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code FAI
Departure City Fairbanks
Departure State AK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1735
Departure Time Zone ADT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code NA
Destination City Fairbanks
Destination State AK
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 1 2011 7:37PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 36
Runway Length 2000
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --