Accident Details
On July 24, 2015, at about 1300 Alaska daylight time, a tailwheel-equipped Found Aircraft Canada, Inc., FBA-2C1 airplane, registration N798, sustained substantial damage following a loss of control during takeoff from an unimproved airstrip near Sennett Point, Unimak Island, Alaska. The airplane was registered to the United States Department of the Interior and operated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a public aircraft operations flight. The certificated commercial pilot and two passengers were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a visual flight rules flight plan had been filed and activated.
Pilot Account
During an interview with a Department of the Interior Senior Air Safety Investigator, the pilot stated that the selected airstrip consisted of a dogleg of about 150 feet, followed by a roughly 25-degree right turn for an additional takeoff area of about 1,000 feet, providing a total available takeoff distance of about 1,150 feet. About 100 feet after executing the required turn, the pilot realized he had not made enough correction to the right to align with the straight portion of the takeoff area and was drifting left. The airplane became airborne after contacting a berm about 5 feet in height, entered an aerodynamic stall, impacted the tundra in a left wing down attitude, bounced, and came to rest approximately 180 degrees from the takeoff heading.
Weather Conditions
The closest weather reporting facility was Cold Bay Airport, Cold Bay, Alaska, about 85 miles northeast of the accident site. At 1253, an aviation routine weather report from Cold Bay Airport indicated wind from 160 degrees at 7 knots; few clouds at 500 feet above ground level, broken at 1,000 feet; visibility 10 statute miles; temperature 55 degrees Fahrenheit; dew point 54 degrees Fahrenheit; and barometric pressure 29.91 inches of mercury.