Amateur-built DHC 2 MK III accident near Anchorage, Alaska, May 29, 1999
On May 29, 1999 at about 11:20 pm local time, a amateur-built DHC 2 MK III, registered N30CC, was substantially damaged in an accident near Anchorage, Alaska (Lake Hood Strip airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The certificated flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the duel student. Factors associated with the accident were the student's inadvertent stall, and a surging turboshaft engine.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- May 29, 1999 · about 11:20 pm local time
- Place
- Anchorage, Alaska · Lake Hood Strip · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built DHC 2 MK III DHC 2 MK I
- Registration
- N30CC · registry record · serial 1566TB4
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot-in-command, a certificated flight instructor, was providing turbine transition instruction to the second pilot. The accident airplane had been modified by the installation of a Pratt & Whitney PT6 turbine engine. The instructor pilot stated that the propeller governor control was causing 'the engine to surge.' He added that just prior to touchdown on runway 31, while the second pilot was manipulating the controls, the engine again surged, and the airplane landed hard. In the pilot-in-command's written report, and during a later telephone conversation, he reported that during the previous landings, the second pilot failed to 'carry power so as not to land hard again.' The first pilot said that he then instructed the second pilot as to the differences of a turbine engine vs. a piston engine. He wrote: 'I watched very closely until we were over the runway, and once again, quick as a cat, we stalled and hit hard.' The airplane's fuselage sustained substantial damage.
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; multi-engine sea; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 24,000 hours in all; 1,500 in this make and model; 100 in the last 90 days; 25 in the last 30 days; 2,300 as pilot in command; 5,000 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: rgt
The aircraft
- Last inspection: annual inspection, May 28, 1999; 2 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 6,000 lb
- Seats: 8
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: P&W PT6A-6A (turboprop); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: Z41 at 5:20 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 31, 2,200 ft by 70 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 120° at 4 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 5,500 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 48°F (9°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 5:53 pm from PAL
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 | |||
| Passengers | 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.
Other NTSB records under N30CC 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.