Amateur-built DHC-3T accident near Port Alsworth, Alaska, August 20, 1999
On August 20, 1999 at about 9:50 pm local time, a amateur-built DHC-3T, registered N888KA, was substantially damaged in an accident near Port Alsworth, Alaska. 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
The pilot's inadvertent retraction of the trailing edge flaps during the takeoff run.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 20, 1999 · about 9:50 pm local time
- Place
- Port Alsworth, Alaska · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built DHC-3T
- Registration
- N888KA · registry record · serial 106
- 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 told the NTSB investigator-in-charge he was attempting to takeoff from a remote lake. At the beginning of the takeoff water run, the hydraulically actuated flaps were retracted from the fully extended (takeoff) to 1/2 position. He said the airplane came up 'on step' normally, and he then attempted to pump the flaps to the fully extended position. The airplane did not become airborne, and he realized the flap selector handle was in the 'up,' not 'down,' position. The airplane struck the four feet high bank at the end of the lake, separating the floats. The pilot initially indicated he forgot to switch the flap selector handle to 'down.' He later stated he thought he had positioned it correctly, but his shirt sleeve may have snagged the handle and repositioned it.
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 multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 13,000 hours in all; 3,000 in this make and model; 384 in the last 90 days; 154 in the last 30 days; 12,000 as pilot in command; 1,500 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 3,712 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, July 24, 1999; 94 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 8,000 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: P&W PT6-135 (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Operator: Ketchum Air Service, INC.
The flight
- Destination: Tutna Lake AK
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 135° at 15 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 5,000 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 50°F (10°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 3 |
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 docket at the NTSB holds the report as a PDF and the investigation's photographs and documents. This site 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 ANC99LA122.