Piper PA31 N995AK

Summary

On 21 January 2019 at about 22:05 local time, a Piper PA31 registered N995AK, operated by Lake Clark Air Inc, was involved in an accident near Chignik Lagoon, Alaska, United States. One person was 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

21 January 2019 at 22:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Chignik Lagoon, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Chignik Lagoon (KCL)

Coordinates

56.3089, -158.5358

Aircraft

Piper PA31

Registration

N995AK

Category

Airplane

Year built

1977

Engines

2

Operator

Lake Clark Air Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Chignik → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC19CA010

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s selection of an unsuitable runway for landing, which resulted in a loss of control and runway excursion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot reported that he performed a fly over of the intended landing runway and determined that it was wet and muddy. During the landing roll, the braking action was minimal due to ice on the surface. The pilot determined that the airplane was not going to stop before the end of the runway, so he applied differential engine power to spin the airplane around; however, the airplane slid off the runway and impacted a snow berm resulting in the collapse of the left landing gear. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and left horizontal stabilizer. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.