NTSB CAROL · Event
Event ANC93LA129
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE PILOT'S IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION, WHILE ON AN APPROACH TO LAND BEHIND ANOTHER AIRPLANE.
Factual narrative
HISTORY OF FLIGHT
On July 31, 1993, at 1853 Alaska daylight time, a float equipped Piper PA 18 airplane, N91219, dragged a wing while landing at Lake Hood Seaplane Base, Anchorage, Alaska. The private pilot, the sole occupant, received minor injuries, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal flight, operating under 14 CFR Part 91, departed Monkey Creek Lake, located about 20 miles north of Talkeetna, Alaska, at approximately 1800. Visual meteorological conditions existed, and no flight plan was filed. Following the accident, during a telephone interview, the pilot stated that when the airplane was about 2 feet above the water, the left wing suddenly dipped down and hit the water. She said she had encountered turbulence from a landing de Havilland DHC 2 Beaver airplane, but thought she had landed a normal distance behind the Beaver. She further said that she had not encountered any turbulence during the approach and landing until just before the wing hit the water.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The accident was witnessed by Mr. Robert A. Wallace, 2302 West Tudor Road, #4, Anchorage, Alaska 99507. At the time he was on the shore of the lake. Following the accident, during a telephone interview, he stated the following in part: "I presently fly Boeing 747 airplanes for Japan Airlines. I have about 11,700 total flight hours, including a lot of time in small land and seaplanes. My attention was caught by the PA 18 (N91219) making such a fast nose low approach, and turning in on a very tight base leg. That put it landing closer than normal behind the Beaver, and subsequently getting caught in it's turbulence. The Cub's wings started rocking from the turbulence when it was about 30 to 50 feet above the water. The floats touched down first then the left wing hit the water." JUST BEFORE TOUCHDOWN, THE FLOATPLANE'S WINGS ROCKED SEVERAL TIMES, THEN THE LEFT WING HIT THE WATER. THE PILOT AND A WITNESS SAID THE AIRPLANE ENCOUNTERED TURBULENCE FROM A DEHAVILLAND DHC-2 (BEAVER) AIRPLANE THAT HAD LANDED SECONDS EARLIER. THE PILOT SAID SHE LANDED A NORMAL DISTANCE BEHIND THE BEAVER. A WITNESS ON THE SHORE SAID THE APPROACH AND LANDING WAS TOO FAST AND TOO CLOSE BEHIND THE BEAVER. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1993_ANC93LA129.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (turbulence). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- arXiv 2026 · arXiv preprint
Direct Numerical Simulations of Ice-Ocean Boundary Turbulence
Turbulent heat and freshwater transport at ice-ocean interfaces controls glacier and iceberg melt rates, yet the underlying physics remains poorly constrained.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
Political Turbulence and Aviation Safety: A Cross-National Analysis of Political Stability's Effects on Aviation Accidents
To what extent does political stability affect aviation safety? This research aims to link domestic political conditions and public safety through the consideration of aviation accident frequency.
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
Explainable LiDAR 3D Point Cloud Segmentation and Clustering for Detecting Airplane-Generated Wind Turbulence
Wake vortices - strong, coherent air turbulences created by aircraft - pose a significant risk to aviation safety and therefore require accurate and reliable detection methods.
- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint
Does small-scale turbulence matter for ice growth in mixed-phase clouds?
Representing the glaciation of mixed-phase clouds in terms of the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process is a challenge for many weather and climate models, which tend to overestimate this process because…
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Effects of electrostatic interaction on clustering and collision of bidispersed inertial particles in homogeneous and isotropic turbulence
In sandstorms and thunderclouds, turbulence-induced collisions between solid particles and ice crystals lead to inevitable triboelectrification.
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2023 · SKYbrary article
Wake Vortex Turbulence — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary wake vortex turbulence comprehensive article — generation mechanics, dissipation factors, separation standards (ICAO LIGHT/MEDIUM/HEAVY/SUPER + recategorisation RECAT-EU).
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗