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ANC21LA087

2021-09-09 · North Pole, Alaska, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 5AK3

Current FAA registration · N1441H

Make / Model
AERONCA 15AC
Engine
CONT MOTOR C145 SERIES (145 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19560520
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A0B40F

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to ensure adequate obstacle clearance while maneuvering, which resulted in a collision with a tree and a loss of control.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that, he was conducting a touch-and-go in his float equipped airplane on a pond directly to the south of a private runway. After he completed the touch-and-go, and during the initial climb, he altered his course to the right for traffic departing from the nearby runway and impacted a tree. He attempted to return to the pond but was unable and subsequently impacted trees and a powerline, which resulted in substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operations. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring environment-Pilot
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Altitude-Not attained/maintained
  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Tree(s)-Effect on equipment

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2021_ANC21LA087.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (loss of control). All research papers