Grumman G-21 accident near Dutch Harbor, Alaska, April 15, 1998
On April 15, 1998 at about 7:45 pm local time, a Grumman G-21, registered N22932, was substantially damaged in an accident near Dutch Harbor, Alaska. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 9 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot-in-command's failure to identify the swells prior to landing. A factor was the water swells.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- April 15, 1998 · about 7:45 pm local time
- Place
- Dutch Harbor, Alaska · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 9 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Grumman G-21 · all G-21s on the register
- Registration
- N22932 · registry record · serial B-139
- 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 pilot landed the seaplane in a protected bay in order to wait for the weather to improve at his destination. He said the wind and seas were calm; however, during landing, the seaplane encountered a swell. The seaplane porpoised, and the left horizontal stabilizer contacted the water.
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
- Ratings: multi-engine land; multi-engine sea; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 7,136 hours in all; 83 in this make and model; 83 in the last 90 days; 53 in the last 30 days; 6,862 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection
- Maximum gross weight: 8,920 lb
- Seats: 10
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: P&W R-985 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: Akutan AK at 2:20 pm
- Destination: DUT AK
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 2,500 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 34°F (1°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 8 |
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 N22932 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 ANC98LA038.