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| Date: | Friday 2 August 2024 |
| Time: | 08:24 |
| Type: |  de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver |
| Owner/operator: | Rustair Inc opb Rust's Flying Service |
| Registration: | N4444Z |
| MSN: | 1307 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1958 |
| Engine model: | Pratt & Whitney R-985 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 7 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Anchorage-Lake Hood (LHD/PALH), Anchorage, AK -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Anchorage-Lake Hood Seaplane Base, AK (LHD/PALH) |
| Anchorage-Lake Hood Seaplane Base, AK (LHD/PALH) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On August 2, 2024, about 0824 Alaska daylight time, a float-equipped De Havilland DHC-2 airplane, N4444Z, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident near Anchorage, Alaska. The pilot and six passengers were uninjured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 non-scheduled flight.
The pilot reported that, as the float-equipped airplane climbed to 200 ft above the water after taking off from a lake, the engine started to sputter, run rough, and began to lose power. Video footage of the accident shows a puff of white smoke coming from the left side of the airplane just before the airplane began to lose altitude. The pilot was able to execute a left turn and land on the lake. The airplane departed the end of the lake onto the bank, the left wing impacted a tree, and the airplane came to rest in an area of brush, which caused substantial damage to the left wing and fuselage.
The pilot reported that there were 75 gallons of fuel onboard and the fuel selector was set to the center tank for takeoff. The weather conditions at the time of the accident were conducive to serious carburetor icing at glide power. During engine runup the pilot stated that he placed the carburetor heat lever in the open position and confirmed the carburetor mixture temperature gauge was between 5-8° Celsius. He stated that because he had ample room for departure that he left the carburetor heat in the open position for takeoff.
The operator mistakenly thought the airplane had been released to them. Without federal oversight, they accomplished the following: checked the fuel for contaminants, removed and inspected all spark plugs, checked the timing on the magnetos, checked compression of all cylinders, inspected the intake and exhaust valves with a borescope, checked the valve clearances, and inspected the rocker arms and rocker shaft nuts. They reported that everything was found to be within normal limits; the operator then ran the engine.
Because the operator conducted invasive inspections and ran the engine without oversight, the NTSB did not examine the airplane on site. The engine was removed, crated, and sent to a facility for further examination.
The postaccident examination of the engine conducted by the NTSB found no anomalies that would have prevented normal operation.
Probable Cause: A partial loss of power during takeoff climb for undetermined reasons.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=194833
https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/N4444Z/history/20240802/1632Z/PALH/PALH
Location
Images:
Anchorage-Lake Hood, AK, June 25, 2013
Media:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 06-Aug-2024 19:27 | ASN | Added |
| 06-Aug-2024 19:29 | ASN | Updated [Date, ] |
| 08-Aug-2024 11:29 | Captain Adam | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Damage, Narrative, Category, Accident report, ] |
| 09-Aug-2024 10:24 | Anon. | Updated [Photo, ] |
| 17-Jul-2025 14:43 | Captain Adam | Updated [Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
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