Amateur-built DHC-4 accident near New Stuyahok, Alaska, August 2, 1996
On August 2, 1996 at about 7:00 pm local time, a amateur-built DHC-4, registered N800NC, was substantially damaged in an accident near New Stuyahok, Alaska (New Stuyahok airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 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 collapse of the nosegear precipitated by the failure of the hydraulic nosegear drag strut locking actuator.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 2, 1996 · about 7:00 pm local time
- Place
- New Stuyahok, Alaska · New Stuyahok · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built DHC-4
- Registration
- N800NC · registry record · serial 98
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airplane's nosegear collapsed during a landing roll on a gravel airstrip. Subsequent examination of the nosegear locking mechanism disclosed a failed hydraulic drag strut locking actuator.
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: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; multi-engine sea; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 15,670 hours in all; 850 in this make and model; 334 in the last 90 days; 108 in the last 30 days; 15,670 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 14,638 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, August 1, 1996; 3 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 28,500 lb
- Seats: 3
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W R2000-7M2 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: ANC Anchorage AK
- Destination: KNW
- Runway 0, 1,800 ft by 70 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 190° at 10 knots
- Visibility: 20 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 1,000 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 61°F (16°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 |
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.
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.