Accident Overview
On July 17, 2009, about 2200 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 172L airplane, registration N7136Q, sustained substantial damage during taxi on the nonmovement area of Lakeshore Drive, Lake Hood Strip, Anchorage, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by the airline transport pilot as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The airline transport pilot and sole passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was filed. The flight departed Homer, Alaska, about 2045.
Sequence of Events
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on July 19, the pilot stated that he was confused by the taxi instructions given by the airport ground controller and inadvertently taxied onto a roadway. While proceeding on the roadway, he noted that the setting sun, which was in his eyes, caused him not to see an aircraft crossing sign on the right side of the roadway. He stated that he struck the sign with the right wing. The pilot reported no known mechanical problems with the airplane prior to the accident. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing during the accident.
An examination of the accident site by the IIC revealed that the pilot exited the runway's parallel taxiway at midfield into an airplane parking and fueling area. He then taxied to a road transiting the parking area and proceeded northwest on that road. The road narrowed as it exited the boundary of the parking area. At the boundary, the pilot passed a "No Taxi" sign on the left side of the road.
Airport Configuration
The pilot landed at Lake Hood Strip (Z41) with the expectation of parking near the terminal at Ted Stevens International Airport (PANC). Although the area appears as a single large airport complex, it comprises three separate airport facilities. A pilot landing at Lake Hood Strip must exit the strip boundaries, taxi across the perimeter of Lake Hood Seaplane Base (LHD), and park at Alpha transient wheel parking. The route from Lake Hood Strip to Alpha parking is classified as a nonmovement area, which is not under the ground controller's jurisdiction; therefore, progressive taxi instructions from ground control were not available.
The State of Alaska, Department of Transportation, maintained an interactive airport website with detailed diagrams available on the Internet. The site included a general aviation parking section for Lake Hood with information about parking and printable PDF diagrams. It also suggested that transient pilots telephone for information before arriving. The appropriate taxi route from Lake Hood Strip to Alpha parking is to go west on the parallel taxiway to the Lakeshore Taxilane, which crosses the road taken by the pilot. The sign the airplane hit had flashing amber lights and warned of the Lakeshore Taxilane crossing. In the immediate area where the pilot exited the runway's parallel taxiway, there is transient aircraft parking and a taxi cab stand with a telephone.
Pilot Account and ATC Communication
A review of PANC tower facility tapes revealed that the pilot did advise that he was unfamiliar with the airport, and he was instructed to taxi northwest around Lake Hood to parking near the base of the tower.
A review of the FAA Alaska airports supplement, under the Lake Hood Strip airport, noted: "Taxiway around Lake Hood is a joint use taxi/road and is used by motor vehicles/bicycles/joggers and tour buses." The supplement did not provide a diagram of the route.