Skip to content

Atlas / NTSB / ANC23LA047

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ANC23LA047

2023-07-04 Kusatan, Alaska, United States Airport · NONE None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N51592

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

MAULE M-5-210C

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A677B0

Registrant of record

MERRELL JARED

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's selection of unsuitable terrain for landing, which resulted in a bounced landing and an encounter with soft terrain, and a nose over.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that during the landing roll out on a remote, gravel/sand bar, the main landing gear wheels encountered an area of uneven sand and the airplane bounced and pitched into the air. She attempted to correct to no avail. Subsequently, when the airplane touched down from the bounce, the wheels dug into the sand, and the airplane nosed over, resulting in substantial damage to the wing struts. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. 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).

  • Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot
  • Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-Rough terrain-Contributed to outcome

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2023_ANC23LA047.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.