Amateur-built DHC-2 accident near Bethel, Alaska, September 20, 2002
On September 20, 2002 at about 4:15 pm local time, a amateur-built DHC-2, registered N144Q, was substantially damaged in an accident near Bethel, Alaska. It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The instructor pilot's inadequate preflight by his failure to remove all frost from the wings prior to takeoff, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and in-flight collision with terrain.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 20, 2002 · about 4:15 pm local time
- Place
- Bethel, Alaska · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built DHC-2
- Registration
- N144Q · registry record · serial 1465
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The certificated flight instructor, seated in the right seat, reported that he was providing flight instruction/familiarization training a commercial pilot, seated in the left seat, in a float-equipped airplane. The instructor added that the accident flight was the first flight of the day. He said that just after takeoff, as the airplane climbed to about 50 feet above the water, the airplane began to buffet, and the right wing dropped. The airplane descended and subsequently struck an area of tundra-covered marshy terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage. The instructor reported that a postaccident inspection of the airplane revealed an accumulation of frost on the wings.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, flight instructor
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 9,600 hours in all; 3,000 in this make and model; 360 in the last 90 days; 100 in the last 30 days; 9,600 as pilot in command; 1,000 on instruments
- Last flight review: June 3, 2002
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: rgt
- Injury: no injuries
Pilot
- Certificate: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (expired)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 7,850.3 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, September 19, 2002; 0 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 5,370 lb
- Seats: 8
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Pratt & Whitney R-985 (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Ptarmigan Air
The flight
- Departed from: BET Bethel AK at 11:15 am
- Destination: BET Bethel AK
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: dawn
- Visibility: 20 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 28°F (-2°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N144Q the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number ANC02LA123.