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ANC24LA093

2024-09-13 · Anchorage, Alaska, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport LHD

Current FAA registration · N5275E

Make / Model
CESSNA 180B
Year of manufacture
1959 · 65 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR O-470 SERIES (230 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19790726
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A6A5FB

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s encounter with wake turbulence, which resulted in substantial damage to the airplane.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported he was inbound to land and was waiting for a break in chatter on the radio to contact the air traffic control tower. He was about 7 miles from the airport, and about 1,050 ft mean sea level when he encountered wake turbulence presumably from a Boeing 747 inbound to an adjacent runway. He stated the airplane violently dropped and he struck his head on the ceiling. He was able to maintain control of the airplane and land uneventfully. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Turbulence-Wake turbulence-Effect on equipment
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Turbulence-Wake turbulence-Contributed to outcome

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2024_ANC24LA093.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (wake turbulence, turbulence). All research papers