A BELLANCA SEAPLANE STRUCK A BOAT WITH HIS WINGTIP ON TKOF FROM A REMOTE RIVER IN ALASKA.

Date: 2006-07 · Aircraft: Champion Citabria 7ECA · Phase: takeoff

Anomalies: conflict-ground-conflict|critical|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|ground-event-encounter-other-unknown

Synopsis

A BELLANCA SEAPLANE STRUCK A BOAT WITH HIS WINGTIP ON TKOF FROM A REMOTE RIVER IN ALASKA.

Narrative

I SPENT THE DAY ON A GRAVEL BAR ON THE RIVER; WHICH IS REMOTELY LOCATED WITH MINIMAL BOAT TFC. FOR MY DEP; I TAXIED DOWNSTREAM TO THE LOWER END OF A STRAIGHT SECTION OF RIVER WHICH WAS APPROX 1500 FT LONG BEFORE THE NEXT BEND UPRIVER. BEFORE TAXI AND BEFORE STARTING MY ENG; I LISTENED FOR BOAT TFC; WHICH WOULD NORMALLY BE QUITE AUDIBLE FOR SEVERAL HUNDRED YARDS UP AND DOWN THE RIVER; AND HEARD NOTHING. WINDS WERE OUT OF THE E; WHICH REQUIRED AN UPSTREAM TKOF TOWARD THE E. I WAS ON 'STEP;' AND HAD RAISED THE R FLOAT TO MINIMIZE MY TKOF RUN; THE R FLOAT BEING EASIER TO LIFT OUT OF THE WATER DUE TO ENG TORQUE. AT THAT POINT; A BOAT CAME AROUND THE BEND IN THE RIVER AHEAD OF ME; WITH A SPD OF APPROX 25-30 MPH. THERE WAS NO TIME TO ABORT THE TKOF; AND WE PASSED EACH OTHER JUST AS I WAS LIFTING OFF THE WATER. BECAUSE HE WAS CLOSE TO THE SHORELINE ON HIS R; WE EACH PASSED WITH THE OTHER CRAFT ON THE L; FOR WHICH THERE WAS NO OTHER CHOICE. OUR PASSING WAS CLOSE; SINCE THERE WERE TREES ON MY R AND I COULDN'T MOVE OVER ANY MORE. UNFORTUNATELY; DUE TO MY R FLOAT BEING LIFTED; MY L WING WAS LOWER; AND CLOSER TO THE BOAT; BUT I HEARD NO SOUND NOR FELT ANY CONTACT; AND BELIEVED THAT THERE WAS NO HARM TO THE PLANE OR BOAT. I CIRCLED BACK OVER THE BOAT AND SAW THAT EVERYONE IN THE BOAT WAS OK; AND RETURNED TO MY HOME BASE. I DIDN'T REALIZE UNTIL I RETURNED AND UPON POSTFLT INSPECTION THAT MY L NAV LIGHT WAS MISSING AND THAT I HAD EVIDENTLY CLIPPED THE TALL FIBERGLAS MARINE ANTENNA ON THE BACK OF THE BOAT. I CONFIRMED THIS IN A SUBSEQUENT DISCUSSION WITH THE BOAT OWNER. IT WAS UNFORTUNATE THAT MY TKOF RUN COINCIDED WITH A BOAT COMING AROUND THE BEND OF THE RIVER; EVEN THOUGH MINIMUM BOAT TFC WAS EXPECTED IN THIS REMOTE AREA. I AM NOT SURE WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO REDUCE THIS RISK; OTHER THAN TO NOT USE THE RIVER AT ALL; OR MINIMIZE MY CHOICE OF TKOF AND LNDG AREAS ON THE RIVER TO INCLUDE ONLY THOSE LOCATIONS WITH LONGER STRAIGHT LINE DISTANCES.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.