Piper PA-31-350 accident near Noorvik, Alaska, September 17, 1998
On September 17, 1998 at about 7:06 pm local time, a Piper PA-31-350, registered N4112D, was substantially damaged in an accident near Noorvik, Alaska (Bob Curtis Memorial airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 4 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
A failure of the pilot to follow the aircraft checklist, and an inadvertent wheels up landing.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 17, 1998 · about 7:06 pm local time
- Place
- Noorvik, Alaska · Bob Curtis Memorial · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-31-350 · all PA-31-350s on the register
- Registration
- N4112D · registry record · serial 31-8353004
- 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 certificated airline transport pilot was landing on a gravel runway during a scheduled air taxi flight. The pilot touched down on the runway with the flaps extended, but the landing gear was still retracted. The airplane received extensive damage to the airplane skin and fuselage stringers, in an area from the nose wheel gear doors to the lower wing spar fitting.
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, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; multi-engine sea; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 2,830 hours in all; 269 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 19,783 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, September 13, 1998; 20 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 7,368 lb
- Seats: 10
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Lycoming TIO-540-J2BD (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: PAIK Kiana AK at 1:56 pm
- Destination: ORV
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 2, 2,200 ft by 50 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 090° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 15 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 1,500 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 39°F (4°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 3 |
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 N4112D 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 ANC98LA167.