Pilot Debrief

CESSNA 150J near Soldotna, AK — 2025-07-31

Investigation ongoingANC25LA080
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Date
2025-07-31
Location
Soldotna, AK, USA
Airport
sxq
Aircraft
CESSNA 150J
Registration
N60509
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Serious
Fatalities
0

Probable cause

NTSB has not published a probable cause for this accident yet. Preliminary reports describe what happened; the cause is determined later, often 12–24 months after the event.

NTSB narrative

On July 31, 2025, about 1300 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 150J airplane, N60509, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Soldotna, Alaska. The instructor pilot sustained minor injuries and the pilot receiving instruction was seriously injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. During a postaccident interview with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), the instructor pilot reported that, given his injuries, he was unable to remember the exact circumstances surrounding the accident. He recalled he was conducting a local orientation flight to a pilot visiting Alaska and this was the pilot’s first flight in Alaska. He said that at the time of the accident, they were practicing short and soft field landing maneuvers. Given the pilot receiving instruction’s serious injuries sustained in the accident, an NTSB interview is pending. Archived surveillance video data from the Soldotna Airport (SXQ), Soldotna, Alaska, revealed that the airplane departed from runway 7, and it remained at a level attitude as it flew low over the runway as the airplane’s speed continued to increase. As the airplane continued low over the runway, about 50 ft above ground level (agl), and as it approached the end of runway 7, it pitched up aggressively and climbed at a near vertical attitude to about 300 ft agl. As the airplane reached the apex of the vertical climb, it rotated towards the left wing on its yaw axis. The airplane subsequently descended in a near vertical, nose down attitude heading in a westerly direction. The airplane’s nose down descent appears to shallow slightly just before impact with the surface of runway 25. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, wings, and empennage. (See figure 1) Figure 1. Accident airplane, N60590, at the Soldotna Airport. A detailed NTSB wreckage examination is pending.

Preliminary NTSB coding

  • Aerodynamic stall/spin · Takeoff
  • Departure Stall
View NTSB preliminary report

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