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N710MH accident description

Alaska map... Alaska list
Crash location 68.476111°N, 142.442500°W
Reported location is a long distance from the NTSB's reported nearest city. This often means that the location has a typo, or is incorrect.
Nearest city Chalkyitsik, AK
66.654444°N, 143.722222°W
130.3 miles away
Tail number N710MH
Accident date 10 Sep 2003
Aircraft type Cessna 206
Additional details: None

NTSB Factual Report

On September 10, 2003, about 1800 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped Cessna 206 airplane, N710MH, operated by Circle Air, Central, Alaska, as a Title 14, CFR Part 135 on-demand charter flight, sustained substantial damage when it collided with an area of rough, uneven terrain and nosed over during an attempted takeoff from a remote off-airport site located about 100 miles northeast of Chalkyitsik, Alaska. The flight operated in day visual meteorological conditions, and company flight following procedures were in effect. Of the three people aboard, the commercial certificated pilot and one passenger received no injuries; the other passenger sustained a minor injury. The flight originated at the off-airport site, and was en route to the Circle Hot Springs Airport, Circle, Alaska.

In a written statement, the owner of the company reported that the pilot was departing from a 1,500 foot-long gravel-covered site, which required a correction for a strong right crosswind. She reported that just after takeoff, the airplane drifted to the left, and the main landing gear wheels struck a stand of brush, and the airplane began to descend onto an area of rough and uneven terrain. She said that as the pilot was attempting to gain altitude, the airplane stalled, and the nose wheel struck a large ditch at the departure end of the site. The airplane subsequently nosed over, and sustained structural damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage.

According to the company owner, there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions, and his failure to maintain adequate airspeed during takeoff, which resulted in an in-flight collision with brush, and subsequent stall of the airplane. Factors associated with the accident were a crosswind, high vegetation (brush), and an inadvertent stall.

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