N28973

On September 6, 1998, about 1800 Alaska daylight time, a Christen Industries A-1 Husky airplane, N28973, sustained substantial damage when it nosed over during landing on an off airport landing strip, 54 miles southeast of Selawik, Alaska, at position 66-20.6 North latitude, 157-50.8 West longitude. The solo student pilot was not injured. The airplane was registered to Roberts Holdings, Inc., of Melstone, Montana, and was operated by David Roberts of Fairbanks, Alaska. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed.

The pilot told two FAA inspectors during an interview on September 9, that he was landing to the west on a 600 feet long, off airport strip with gusty right crosswinds of 25 knots to 35 knots. During the landing, the right main landing gear broke off and the airplane nosed over. He indicated that he would not have attempted to land in the gusty winds, but did not believe he had enough fuel to return to Galena.

The pilot had been flying with a student certificate issued in 1983, and had accrued about 1,000 hours of flight time, with about 400 hours in the accident airplane. He stated to the FAA inspectors that he "just had not had time to complete his private license."