YAKUTAT, AK, USA
N85CG
Cessna A185E
The certificated commercial pilot, with three passengers aboard, was landing on a remote soft, sand-covered river bank. After touchdown and during the landing roll, the right main landing gear leg collapsed, and the right wing struck the ground.
On October 7, 1999, about 1310 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Cessna A185E airplane, N85CG, sustained substantial damage during landing at an off airport site located about 20 miles east of Yakutat, Alaska, at 59.31 north latitude, 139.05 west longitude. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) on-demand passenger flight under Title 14, CFR Part 135, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by Gulf Air Taxi, Inc., Yakutat, Alaska. The certificated commercial pilot, and three passengers aboard, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and VFR company flight following procedures were in effect. The flight originated at the Yakutat Airport, Yakutat, about 1245. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on October 7, the pilot said he was landing to the east on a soft, sand-covered river bank. He said that after touchdown and during the landing roll, the right main landing gear leg collapsed, and the right wing struck the ground. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing.
The pilot's selection of an unsuitable landing area. A factor associated with the accident was soft terrain.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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