Atlas / NTSB / ANC81FA043

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ANC81FA043

1981-04-18 SAND POINT, Alaska, United States None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N173RV

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

VAN'S AIRCRAFT RV-12IS

Year of manufacture

2025

Engine

ROTAX 912 IS (100 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

20251230

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A125DD

Registrant of record

VANS AIRCRAFT INC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N173RV NIHON YS-11A None

Historical record (pre-1982)

NTSB recorded this accident in the pre-1982 coded-field schema — structured fields rather than free-text narrative. Decoded codes use established NTSB single-letter taxonomies; cause factors remain verbatim pending the Form 6120.4 codebook lookup.

Aircraft

NIHON YS-11A · N173RV

Damage

Substantial

Craft type

Airplane

Classification

Accident

Light condition

Dawn

Weather

VMC

Phase of flight

EB

Airport

SAND POINT

Weather at impact

Sky

SCATTERED-ABOVE 1000 FEET

Wind

040° / 7 kt

Temp

46° F

Aircraft history

Serial number

000000002173

Total time

11,692 hrs

Pilot

Certificate

DA (DA)

Total hours

10,000

Age

42

Probable cause (from PRE1982.MDB)

ION.MAIN GEAR STRUCK EMBANKMENT AT END OF RWY.

Investigator remarks

SEA GULL HIT WINDSHIELD ON SHORT FINAL RSTRG VIS

Cause factors

84/C/0 C
MISCELLANEOUS BIRD COLLISION Cause
64/B/48 B
PILOT IN COMMAND MISJUDGED DISTANCE AND ALTITUDE
88/K/45 K
MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS WINDSHIELD,DIRTY,FOGGY,ETC.-RESTRICTED VISION Joint factor
80/K/BY K
AIRPORTS/AIRWAYS/FACILITIES OTHER Joint factor

Decoded against the NTSB Form 6120.4 cause-factor codebook (ct_Pre1982 table). Each row shows the raw triplet, modifier (Cause / Factor / etc.), category, and specific code.

Source: NTSB pre-1982 historical archive. Docket 1 0001. Source file NTSB_1981_1_0001.txt. Modern CAROL record on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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