Event ANC15LA057

Factual narrative

On July 24, 2015, about 1300 Alaska daylight time, a tailwheel-equipped Found Aircraft Canada, Inc., FBA-2C1 airplane, N798, sustained substantial damage after a loss of control during takeoff from an unimproved airstrip near Sennett Point, Unimak Island, Alaska. The certificated commercial pilot and two passengers sustained no injuries. The airplane was registered to the United States Department of the Interior, and operated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 as a public aircraft operations flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan was filed and activated. During an interview with a Department of the Interior, Senior Air Safety Investigator, the pilot stated that the selected airstrip consisted of a dogleg of about 150 feet, followed by about a 25-degree right turn for an additional takeoff area of about 1,000 feet, totaling about 1,150 feet of available takeoff distance. About 100 feet after making the required turn, the pilot realized he had not made enough correction to the right to get lined up with the straight portion of the takeoff area and was drifting left. The airplane became airborne after contacting a berm about 5 feet in height, entered an aerodynamic stall, impacted the tundra in a left wing down attitude, bounced, and came to rest about 180 degrees from the takeoff heading. The closest weather reporting facility is Cold Bay Airport, Cold Bay, Alaska, approximately 85 miles northeast of the accident site. At 1253, an aviation routine weather report (METAR) from the Cold Bay Airport was reporting in part: wind from 160 degrees at 7 knots; sky condition few at 500 feet agl, broken at 1,000 feet agl; visibility 10 statute miles; temperature 55 degrees F; dew point 54 degrees F; barometric pressure 29.91 inHg. The commercial pilot reported that, during a local public flight, he attempted to take off from an unimproved airstrip that included a dogleg right turn. About 100 ft after making the required turn, the pilot realized that he had not corrected enough to the right to get lined up with the straight portion of the takeoff area and that the airplane was drifting left. His failure to maintain adequate distance from surrounding terrain resulted in the airplane contacting a 5-ft-high berm, inadvertently becoming airborne, and entering an aerodynamic stall. The airplane subsequently impacted the tundra in a left-wing-down attitude, bounced, and then came to rest about 180 degrees from the takeoff heading. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Not attained/maintained - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Angle of attack-Not attained/maintained - C
• C Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring environment-Pilot - C
• C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-(general)-Not specified - C
• — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-Rough terrain-Contributed to outcome