Event ANC06LA105

Factual narrative

On July 31, 2006, about 1700 Alaska daylight time, an American Champion 8GCBC airplane, N35RF, sustained substantial damage when it collided with trees during a simulated engine out landing at the Goose Bay Airstrip, about 10 miles north of Anchorage, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by the flight instructor as a visual flight rules (VFR) instructional flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The commercial certificated flight instructor received minor injuries, and the student pilot received serious injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated at Merrill Field, Anchorage, about 1519. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on July 31, a relative of the instructor pilot said the instructor pilot telephoned him from the accident site, and said the airplane had nosed over during landing, damaging the wings and fuselage. During a telephone interview with the NTSB IIC on January 24, 2007, the student pilot said they were doing pattern work at a gravel airstrip. He said during climb from the runway the instructor "pulled the engine" to simulate an engine out emergency. The student said the runway they were using required a climb over a saltwater inlet, and the only recourse was to execute a 180 degree turn toward the runway they had just departed. The student said he thought they were 300-500 feet above the water, and he initiated a standard rate turn. He said the instructor told him the turn was not steep enough. The student said because of their altitude he did not feel comfortable increasing the angle of bank. The student said the instructor took control of the airplane and dramatically increased the angle of bank, at which time the airplane stalled and dove toward the ground. He said the instructor leveled the wings just as the airplane collided with trees adjacent to the runway. The flight instructor did not complete the NTSB Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident form as requested, and he did not respond to telephone messages left by the IIC. The commercial certificated flight instructor was giving primary flight instruction under Title 14, CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred. According to the student pilot, they were doing traffic pattern work at a gravel airstrip, when during initial climb from the runway, the instructor "pulled the engine" to simulate a loss of engine power emergency. The runway they were using required a departure over a saltwater inlet, and the only recourse was to execute a 180 degree turn toward the runway they had just departed. The student estimated they were 300-500 feet above the water when he initiated a standard rate turn. He said the instructor told him the turn was not steep enough, but because of the low altitude, the student did not feel comfortable increasing the angle of bank. The student said the instructor took control of the airplane, and dramatically increased the angle of bank. He said the airplane stalled, and dove toward the ground, with the instructor leveling the wings just as the airplane collided with trees adjacent to the runway. The student said the airplane's wings and fuselage received structural damage. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12