ANC91LA055

1991-05-03 · EEK, Alaska, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport EEK

Aircraft involved

N4593T Piper PA-32-300 None

Probable cause & findings

WAS THE HARD LANDING CAUSED WHEN THE PILOT ENCOUNTERED A DOWNDRAFT DURING THE FINAL APPROACH PORTION OF THE LANDING. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE DOWNDRAFT AND THE DIRT/RIVER BANK JUST SHORT OF THE RUNWAY.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND STATED THAT SHE ENCOUNTERED A DOWNDRAFT ON SHORT FINAL. THE AIRPLANE FIRST TOUCHED DOWN ABOUT 4 FEET SHORT OF THE RUNWAY, BOUNCED, THEN LANDED HARD ON THE RUNWAY CAUSING ALL LANDING GEAR TO SEPARATE FROM THE FUSELAGE. THE POINT OF FIRST TOUCHDOWN WAS SLOPED DOWN AND AWAY FROM THE RUNWAY ABOUT 30 DEGREES. THE END OF THE RUNWAY WAS ABOUT 100 FEET FROM A RIVER BANK WHICH DROPPED RAPIDLY ABOUT 20 FEET. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_ANC91LA055.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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