N9874M

On September 6, 2000, about 1130 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 207 airplane, N9874M, sustained substantial damage during landing at the Kongiganak Airport, Kongiganak, Alaska. The solo commercial pilot was not injured. The flight was operated by Alaska Central Express, Inc., of Anchorage, Alaska. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 135 as an on-demand cargo flight transporting mail. The flight departed Bethel, Alaska, at 1115 for the accident site. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a VFR flight plan was filed.

The pilot told the NTSB investigator-in-charge during a telephone interview on September 6, that he was landing on runway 18. He estimated the winds to be from 270 degrees gusting to 25 knots. After touchdown, the airplane hit a rut, bounced, and became airborne. The right wing came up, and the airplane departed the left side of the 1,880 feet long by 35 feet wide gravel runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage.

The pilot of another airplane observed the accident from the ramp area. He described a normal approach and touchdown, and a right crosswind gusting to 25 knots. He indicated the airplane contacted a water-filled rut and bounced. The right wing lifted, and the wind pushed the airplane off the left side of the runway. Postaccident inspection of the runway by the company resulted in termination of company services to the airport. The director of operations told the NTSB IIC that the company was concerned about the runway, but had not inspected it prior to the accident.

The pilot, the witness, and the company's director of operations, described the runway condition as extremely potholed, and unsuitable. The Alaska Supplement states, in part: "CAUTION: Rwy condition not monitored, recommend visual inspection prior to using. Rwy rough full length." The runway is not maintained by the State of Alaska, and the state and the community do not receive Federal funding for runway maintenance. This was the pilot's first revenue flight in Alaska, and for the company, and his first flight to this airport.