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Atlas / NTSB / ANC23LA063

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ANC23LA063

2023-08-14 Skwentna, Alaska, United States Airport · NA None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N4891Z

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

CESSNA U206G

Year of manufacture

1980 · 43 years old at event

TCDS

A4CE · CESSNA

Engine

CONT MOTOR IO 520 SERIES (285 hp)

Seats / Engines

6 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19930504

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A60C9B

Registrant of record

RUSTAIR INC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The airplane’s float contacted an undetected submerged gravel bar during landing which resulted in a nose over.

Factual narrative

While landing on a river and coming off the float step, the airplane’s float contacted an undetected submerged gravel bar in shallow water. The airplane pivoted, nosed over, and came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer and rudder. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane 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).

  • Environmental issues-Physical environment-Runway/land/takeoff/taxi surface-(general)-Contributed to outcome
  • Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
  • Environmental issues-Physical environment-Runway/land/takeoff/taxi surface-(general)-Awareness of condition

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2023_ANC23LA063.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.