The National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) has released a preliminary report on the Sept. 9 accident that killed Mat-Su Valley pilot Mike Whedbee when his Zenith CH-701 experimental aircraft, built by he and his wife, crashed near their private airstrip. Passenger Jason Scott was seriously injured.
The flight originated from the Kucera Residence Airport in Big Lake, about 45 minutes earlier.
According to a close family member of the pilot who spoke with the NTSB investigators, Whedbee was searching for a bear reported to be in the area guarding a moose kill. The same bear was believed to have been leaving tracks on the family's private runway for several years.
The NTSB report states that at about 1:00PM the Zenith CH-701 airplane was seriously damaged in a collision with the trees and ground while taking off from the West Lake airstrip which is about four miles northwest of Big Lake.
Investigators reached the accident site on September 10th and noted the aircraft came to rest upright, in a nose-low attitude, and on a mass of "dead fallen trees and branches." All primary flight control surfaces such as ailerons, rudder and elevator were identified at the accident site. Investigators also determined that continuity between the cockpit and flight control surfaces was verified, (i.e. the controls were properly "rigged" which is often a concern with homebuilt aircraft.) The wreckage will be fully examined by investigators upon recovery.
Weather was reportedly clear and calm, with 3-knot winds registering at the nearest operational weather reporting facility, Birchwood Airport, which is 17 miles southeast of the accident site.
A Factual Narrative and subsequent Probable Cause Report, which will likely not be released until late next year, will determine the cause of the accident. No one with the NTSB was available for comment on the preliminary report due to the current federal government shutdown, which furloughed Alaska's three full-time aviation crash investigators.
Contact Colleen Mondor at colleen(at)alaskadispatch.com