N495K

On June 22, 2000, at 1550 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 206 float equipped airplane, N495K, and a DeHavilland DHC-2 float equipped airplane, N5221G, both sustained substantial damage when they collided on Brooks Lake, 27 miles east of King Salmon, Alaska, at 58 degrees, 33 minutes north latitude, 155 degrees, 16 minutes west longitude. The commercial pilot and the four passengers on board the Cessna received no injuries. The pilot and front seat passenger of the DeHavilland received minor injuries; the remaining four passengers were not injured. The Cessna flight was conducted by Katmai Air, Inc., of Anchorage, Alaska, under 14 CFR Part 135, as an on-demand air taxi flight to King Salmon. The DeHavilland flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight by the pilot transporting five friends from Naknek Lake, 20 miles west of the accident site. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a company flight plan was filed for the Cessna. No flight plan was on file for the DeHavilland.

Both pilots were interviewed by an FAA inspector the day after the accident. The FAA inspector related that both pilots described the Cessna taxiing away from the shore into the sun, and the DeHavilland taxiing toward the shore. The DeHavilland pilot said he saw the Cessna taxiing, believed that the Cessna pilot saw him, and expected it would pass down the left side of his airplane. He described the Cessna turning left toward his airplane, beginning the takeoff water run and colliding before he could make an effective evasive maneuver. The Cessna pilot said he never saw the DeHavilland in the sun glare. As he began the takeoff run, and the airplane was about to come onto "the step," the right-front seat passenger in the Cessna warned the pilot about the DeHavilland. The pilot said he attempted to maneuver the Cessna to the left, but the right wing struck the DeHavilland's windshield.

The radios of both airplanes were tuned to 122.9 MHz, the local common traffic advisory frequency. The pilot of the DeHavilland said he made a radio transmission just before he landed, and none others. The pilot of the Cessna said he did not put on his headset until about halfway through the taxi for takeoff. Neither pilot reported hearing any radio transmissions from the pilot of the opposing airplane.

The right wing of the Cessna contacted the propeller of the DeHavilland, separating the wing outboard of the lift strut. The DeHavilland sustained damage to the right wing, engine, and windshield, which was penetrated by the Cessna's right wing. Paint was transferred between the top surface of the Cessna's right wing, and the lower surface of the DeHavilland's right wing. Propeller strike marks were evident in the right wingtip cap fuel tank of the DeHavilland.