17 August 2016

That's Gonna Leave a Mark

NTSB: Floatplane crashed into shore on takeoff south of Iliamna

A de Havilland Beaver taking off from Crosswinds Lake in Katmai National Park and Preserve crashed on Aug. 8, 2016. Four of the seven people on board were injured. (National Park Service photo)


The pilot of a floatplane that crashed on departure from a lake south of Iliamna last week told investigators that the aircraft never became airborne during a full takeoff run.

According to the National Park Service, the de Havilland Beaver floatplane carrying seven people crashed on takeoff from Crosswinds Lake, about 40 miles south of Iliamna in Katmai National Park and Preserve, at about 4:30 p.m. Aug. 8. The pilot and three passengers were injured.

[snip]

A preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report on the crash released this week includes details from Harari, who spoke briefly with an NTSB investigator by phone the day after the crash. The plane, operated by the Rapids Camp Lodge in King Salmon, was headed to the lodge when it crashed.

"(Harari) stated that before starting his takeoff run, he back-taxied the airplane to the far north/northeast end of the lake in an attempt to use the full length of the lake for takeoff," investigators wrote. "He said that during his takeoff run, the airplane did not become airborne before reaching the lake's south/southwest shoreline, and the airplane floats subsequently collided with an area of rising terrain on the shoreline."

(National Park Service photo)

6 comments:

Rob said...

Ouch. The good news is CAP is selling their Beavers in AK, so a replacement could be found. evil grin

Rev. Paul said...

Rob, I hadn't heard that. But Beavers are extremely popular up here, in large part because of those broad wings which allow a pilot suffering loss of power to glide for a long way. Of course, that presupposes that said pilot got off the water in the first place.

Old NFO said...

One wonders why he didn't abort the takeoff...

Rev. Paul said...

That's a VERY good question, my friend - one which I'm sure the NTSB will be asking, as well.

Sandy Livesay said...

Rev. Paul,

Sound like someone didn't know how to fly a plane?? Good to hear there were no deaths in this crash.

Rev. Paul said...

Sandy, it could come down to pilot error, indeed. Many of the crashes here are ascribed to that, in the end. But there was an aviation death nearer to home, over the weekend. Flying in Alaska remains quite hazardous.