Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Nikiski, Alaska 99635
Monday, August 18, 2014 12:00 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On August 18, 2014, about 1200 Alaska daylight time, an experimental amateur built Zenith STOL CH-701 airplane, N957TT, was substantially damaged during a collision with terrain after a loss of engine power during takeoff from a remote airstrip, 16 miles west of Nikiski, Alaska. The pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight, destined for McGahan Industrial Airpark (AK73), Nikishka, Alaska.
According to the pilot, he had flown to the remote airstrip earlier that day from the McGahan Industrial Airpark. To assess the landing strip's condition prior to landing, he first did a low pass. He then flew the traffic pattern and this time, he did a touch-and-go landing, touching down on the main landing gear only, and then added power and flew around the traffic pattern again for a full stop landing. During the full stop landing at "touchdown," the airplane entered a "big mud puddle," and water came over the bottoms of the door openings and into the cockpit.
After landing he examined the airplane for external damage. He could not however, remove the engine cowling to check for damage or water intrusion as he did not have any tools with him.
Later, prior to departing for the return flight to the McGahan Industrial Airpark, he did an engine run-up and did not discover any anomalies. However, during the takeoff, right after liftoff, at approximately 50 feet above ground level, all engine power was lost. During the subsequent forced landing, the airplane then contacted the ground nose first. A postaccident examination by the pilot revealed that the nose landing gear and main landing gear had separated from their mounting positions. The engine firewall and both rear wings attach fittings sustained substantial damage.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/18/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1200 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Nikiski |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99635 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 AKD |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAEN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 99 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | AKD |
| 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) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AALROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 29 2014 11:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N957TT |
| NTSB Number | ANC14LA065 |
| 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 | TERRY W. THAYER |
| Aircraft Model | ZENITH STOL CH701 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7-7355 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3003 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | THAYER TERRY W |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | EAGLE RIVER |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 995778398 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | THAYER TERRY W |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | EAGLE RIVER |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 995778398 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | -- |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Nikiski |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 29 2014 11:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |