Skip to content

Atlas / NTSB / ANC24LA015

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ANC24LA015

2024-02-16 Trapper Creek, Alaska, United States None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N1258V

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

CESSNA R172K

Engine

CONT MOTOR IO-360 SER (300 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19761229

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A069C9

Registrant of record

SUTTON AIRCRAFT SALVAGE LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack while maneuvering at low altitude, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall; loss of airplane control; and impact with terrain.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that after dropping a package while on a low pass, the airplane encountered an aerodynamic stall, contacted brush and trees, and impacted the ground. The airplane came to rest inverted, causing substantial damage to the empennage, elevator, and rudder. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions 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).

  • Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Angle of attack-Capability exceeded
  • Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2024_ANC24LA015.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

What the literature says.

Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.

Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗