Pilot Said Aircraft Never Left The Water Before Impact

The NTSB has released a preliminary report from an accident involving a floatplane in Alaska August 8.

According to the report, a float-equipped de Havilland DHC-2 (Beaver) airplane, N95RC, sustained substantial damage when it impacted terrain during takeoff from Crosswind Lake, located about 38 miles south of Iliamna, Alaska. Of the seven people on board, the commercial pilot and three passengers sustained serious injuries, and three passengers sustained minor injuries.

The airplane was registered to, and operated by, Rapids Camp Lodge, Inc., King Salmon, Alaska, as a visual flight rules (VFR) other work-use flight, under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The flight was originating at the time of the accident and was destined to King Salmon.

In a brief telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on August 9, the accident pilot 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.

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. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage.

(Source: NTSB. National Park Service image)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov