Cessna 172D N8808

Summary

On 8 October 2012 at about 02:30 local time, a Cessna 172D registered N8808, operated by Donald Fairbanks, was involved in an accident near Buckland, Alaska, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

8 October 2012 at 02:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Buckland, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

65.9081, -161.9242

Aircraft

Cessna 172D

Registration

N8808

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Donald Fairbanks

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Buckland → Buckland

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC13CA003

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's loss of airplane control during takeoff from an off-airport site, which resulted in a runway excursion and collision with terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he was departing from a soft, off-airport site, and just after takeoff, the airplane settled back to the runway. During the touchdown, the left wheel hit a soft spot, and the airplane veered to the left and into a creek bed where it collided with terrain. Upon exiting the airplane, the pilot noticed flames in the engine compartment. Unable to extinguish the flames, the airplane was consumed by a postcrash fire. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.