Cessna 172L N7136Q accident near Anchorage, Alaska

Probable cause

The pilot's unfamiliarity with the airport environment, which resulted in his taxiing the airplane onto a no-taxi section of roadway and into a road sign. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to avail himself of additional information that described the appropriate taxi routes on the airport.

NTSB analysis

The pilot said that after landing he was attempting to taxi to another nearby airport to park and was confused by the taxi instructions given by the airport ground controller. He inadvertently taxied onto a roadway and that the setting sun, which was in his eyes, caused him not to see a warning sign on the right side of the roadway; the airplane's right wing then struck the sign. The pilot had exited the runway's parallel taxiway at midfield onto an airplane parking and fueling area. He taxied to a road transiting the parking area, and turned northwest on the road. The road narrowed at the boundary of the parking area and the pilot passed a "No Taxi" sign located on the left side of the road. The route from the runway to parking is along nonmovement areas, and progressive taxi instructions were thus not available. An interactive airport web site with detailed parking information and taxi diagrams was available on the internet. The appropriate route was to proceed west on the parallel taxiway to the taxilane which crosses the road taken by the pilot. The sign the airplane hit had flashing amber lights and warned of the taxilane crossing. A review of the published Federal Aviation Administration Alaska airports supplement for taxi instructions at the airport revealed the "taxiway is a joint use taxi/road and is used by motor vehicles/bicycles/joggers and tour buses."

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ANC09LA069 for the full record.