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ANC87FA137

1987-09-05 · ANCHORAGE, Alaska, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport CSR

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE PILOT OF THE HELICOPTER WAS SEEN FLYING AT APPROXIMATELY 50 FEET AGL DOWN THE LENGTH OF A PRIVATE GRAVEL AIRSTRIP NEAR ANCHORAGE, ALASKA. A NEARBY JOGGER SAID THAT THE PILOT APPEARED TO WAVE AT HIM AS HE FLEW PAST AND THEN HE HEARD THE HELICOPTER CRASH SEVERAL SECONDS LATER. THE HELICOPTER STRUCK A TREE WITH ITS MAIN ROTOR BLADE 16'4' ABOVE THE GROUND. THE PILOT, A LOCAL PHYSICIAN, HAD ACCUMULATED APPROXIMATELY 14 HOURS IN THE ENSTROM F-28F OVER THE PRECEEDING 3 YEARS. IT IS BELIEVED THAT THIS WAS HIS FIRST FLIGHT, OTHER THAN A SHORT FERRY FLIGHT, SINCE THE HELICOPTER HAD BEEN PLACED IN STORAGE 10 MONTHS EARLIER. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1987_ANC87FA137.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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