N515N

On March 5, 2004, about 1130 Alaska daylight time, a ski-equipped Cessna 170A airplane, N515N, received substantial damage when it collided with a snowbank during an aborted takeoff from the Bradley Sky Ranch airstrip, North Pole, Alaska. The private pilot/airplane owner and the sole passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, and no flight plan was filed. The flight was originating at the time of the accident, and the intended destination was a remote, off-airport site about 100 miles north of Fort Yukon, Alaska.

During a telephone conversation with the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC) on March 5, at 1430, the pilot related that he was departing on runway 33, which was snow covered and 3,400 feet long. He described the snow on the airstrip as "soft and sticky." He said the airplane didn't seem to accelerate as quickly as it normally did, which he attributed to the snow condition. The airplane continued to accelerate slowly, lifted off, and then settled onto the airstrip. The pilot said the airplane did this two more times, before he reduced the engine power and aborted the takeoff. The airplane subsequently ran off the end of the runway and hit a snowbank, sustaining structural damage to the right wing, main landing gear gear box, right horizontal stabilizer, and left wing lift strut.

The pilot wrote in his report to the NTSB that the accident could have been prevented "by aborting the takeoff in a timely manner."