N4596U – CESSNA U206G – 2016-05-23 NTSB Accident Report

On May 23, 2016, a Cessna U206G (N4596U) was involved in an incident near Chinita Bay, AK. All 5 people aboard were uninjured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this incident to be: The pilot's selection of unsuitable terrain for taxi, resulting in a tail strike and aft fuselage substantial damage.

According to the pilot, after landing he taxied the tri-cycle landing gear-equipped airplane on a rocky, soft sand beach and the nose wheel bounced off of a sand berm. He reported that when the nose wheel bounced, the tail section contacted the ground. He recalled that he parked the airplane, inspected the empennage and determined the damage to be minor, and departed on a subsequent flight. However, a subsequent inspection of the empennage by the company's mechanic revealed that the aft fuselage bulkhead had sustained substantial damage.

The pilot reported that prior to the taxi there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane or any of its systems that would have prevented normal flight operations.

This incident is documented in NTSB report GAA16CA272. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N4596U.