| Crash location | 62.858333°N, 152.626667°W
Reported location is a long distance from the NTSB's reported nearest city. This often means that the location has a typo, or is incorrect. |
| Nearest city | Mcgrath, AK
62.956389°N, 155.595833°W 93.7 miles away |
| Tail number | N2088Z |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 01 Sep 2007 |
| Aircraft type | Short Bros. SC-7 |
| Additional details: | None |
On September 1, 2007, about 1230 Alaska daylight time, a twin-engine turboprop Short Brothers SC-7 airplane, N2088Z, sustained substantial damage when the nose landing gear strut collapsed during the landing roll at a remote lodge airstrip, about 82 miles east-northeast of McGrath, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country nonscheduled cargo flight under Title 14, CFR Part 135, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by Arctic Circle Air Service Inc., Fairbanks, Alaska. The airline transport certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated at the Fairbanks International Airport about 1030. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was filed.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on September 4, the director of operations for the operator reported that the pilot was landing toward the northwest at the Mystic Lake Lodge. The gravel surfaced runway was about 1,000 feet long, and about 40 feet wide. During the landing roll, the nose landing gear strut collapsed when it encountered soft terrain.
On September 10, the director of maintenance for the operator reported that the fuselage received structural damage aft of the nose gear when the nose gear collapsed.
The pilot's selection of unsuitable terrain for landing and subsequent nose gear collapse during the landing roll. Contributing to the accident was the soft terrain.