Cessna 441 accident near Anchorage, Alaska, August 29, 2005
On August 29, 2005 at about 5:29 am local time, a Cessna 441, registered N77SA, was substantially damaged in an accident near Anchorage, Alaska (Anchorage Intl airport). It was a personal 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 pilot's failure to lower the airplane's landing gear during landing, which resulted in an inadvertent wheels up landing.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 29, 2005 · about 5:29 am local time
- Place
- Anchorage, Alaska · Anchorage Intl · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 441 · all 441s on the register
- Registration
- N77SA · registry record · serial 441-0329
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airline transport pilot was landing a retractable landing gear-equipped turboprop airplane on a 10,900 foot long, by 150 foot wide paved runway. According to the pilot, while on approach to land, he selected 10 degrees of wing flaps, and then selected the landing gear selector switch to the down position, which was followed by "three greens", indicating the landing gear was down, locked, and safe for landing. He said that after touchdown, during the initial landing roll, the landing gear retracted, and the airplane slid on the underside of the fuselage. The airplane veered to the right of the runway centerline, and the right wing collided with numerous runway edge lights. A postcrash fire ensued when the right wing's fuel tank was breached. The airplane received structural damage to the underside of the fuselage, and the right wing was destroyed. Propeller strike marks originated in the vicinity of the accident airplane's touchdown point, and extended to the airplane's final resting point, about 2,200 feet from initial contact. A postaccident inspection of the airplane by the IIC and another NTSB air safety investigator, disclosed no evidence of any preaccident mechanical malfunction of the landing gear assembly or its associated operating systems. The airplane was placed on jack stands and hydraulic pressure was supplied to the airplane's hydraulic system using a hydraulic ground power unit. The airplane's landing gear retraction system was cycled numerous times, with no mechanical anomalies noted.
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 single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 17,000 hours in all; 50 in this make and model; 30 in the last 90 days; 10 in the last 30 days; 13,300 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: June 1, 2005
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 11,049 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, August 1, 2005; 91.9 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 10,163 lb
- Seats: 10
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Garrett-Airesearch TPE 331-10 (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: CVD Cordova AK at 11:45 pm
- Destination: ANC Anchorage AK
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 7R, 10,900 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: a few clouds at 500 ft
- Temperature: 54°F (12°C), dew point 48°F (9°C)
- Altimeter: 29.70 inHg
- Observation at 11:52 pm from ANC
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 N77SA the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.