ANC03LA059

Factual narrative

On June 12, 2003, about 2100 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped homebuilt Williamson GLASTAR airplane, N62849, sustained substantial damage when it drifted into trees during an aborted landing at the Flying Crown Airport, Anchorage, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by the pilot as a visual flight rules (VFR) local personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred. The solo commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on June 13, the pilot said he made the final approach to landing at 60 statute miles per hour indicated airspeed. He said after touching down the airplane hit a bump on the runway and became airborne. He said the airplane touched down again with a hard bounce, and again became airborne. The pilot said he applied full throttle and attempted to abort the landing. He said the airplane was in a nose high attitude, and drifted toward the trees on the right side of the runway. He said he attempted to correct for the drift with aileron and rudder, but the right wing struck trees and separated from the fuselage. The fuselage was severed in half behind the cabin. The airplane came to rest in the trees about 8 feet above the ground. The pilot said there were no preimpact mechanical anomalies with the airplane. During a telephone conversation with the IIC on June 13, a witness said he saw the airplane make a fairly good three point landing, but the airplane was fast. The witness said the airplane hit a bump in the runway and became airborne. He said the airplane bounced two more times before the pilot applied full throttle and attempted to abort the landing. The witness said the airplane was in a nose high, almost stall attitude, when it flew into the trees. The pilot of the homebuilt airplane said he made the final approach to landing at 60 statute miles per hour indicated airspeed. After touching down, the airplane hit a bump on the runway and became airborne. The airplane touched down again with a hard bounce, and again became airborne. The pilot initiated full throttle and attempted to abort the landing. The airplane was in a nose high attitude, and drifted into the trees on the right side of the runway. The right wing struck the trees and separated from the fuselage. The airplane came to rest in the trees about 8 feet above the ground. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12