De Havilland BEAVER DHC-2 N95RC

Summary

On 9 August 2016 at about 00:51 local time, a De Havilland BEAVER DHC-2 registered N95RC, operated by Rapids Camp Lodge Inc, was involved in an accident near Iliamna, Alaska, United States. 7 people were on board and 4 were seriously injured, 3 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

9 August 2016 at 00:51

Classification

Accident

Location

Iliamna, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Crosswind Lake (N/A)

Coordinates

62.1008, -145.5297

Aircraft

De Havilland BEAVER DHC-2

Registration

N95RC

Category

Airplane

Year built

1956

Engines

1

Operator

Rapids Camp Lodge Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Crosswind Lake → King Salmon

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC16LA054

4 people were seriously injured.

The pilot's decision to perform the takeoff despite calculations showing that the distance available was inadequate, which resulted in impact with terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airline transport pilot of the float-equipped airplane was attempting a takeoff with the load of passengers that he had flown to the lake earlier in the day. The pilot's calculated takeoff distances for the water run and over a 50-ft obstacle were 1,050 ft and 2,210 ft, respectively. The pilot did not add a safety margin to his takeoff distance calculations. The approximate shore-to-shore distance of the takeoff path was 1,800 ft. During taxi, the pilot retracted the wing flaps, where they remained for the takeoff. GPS data showed that the airplane attained a speed of about 49 knots before impacting terrain just beyond the shoreline. The airplane's stall speed with flaps retracted was about 52 knots. Postaccident examination revealed that the left wing flap was in the fully retracted position; the right wing flap assembly was damaged. The airplane flight manual takeoff checklist stated that flaps were to be selected to the "TAKE-OFF" position before takeoff. Additionally, the takeoff performance data contained in the flight manual was dependent upon the use of "TAKE-OFF" flaps and did not account for no-flaps takeoffs. Even if the pilot had used the correct flap setting for takeoff, the calculated takeoff distances were near the available takeoff distance, and it is likely that the airplane would still not have been able to avoid a collision with terrain. The pilot stated that there was no mechanical malfunction/failure with the airplane, and he should have "done the right thing," which was to conduct two flights, each with a half load of passengers.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.