Accident Report...
NTSB Identification: ANC08FA072
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, June 06, 2008 in Quinhagak, AK
Aircraft: Piper PA-18, registration: N897SP
Injuries: 1 Fatal.
On June 6, 2008, about 1910 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire-equipped Piper PA-18 airplane, N897SP, was destroyed by impact and a postimpact fire when it collided with a gravel-covered tidal beach, about 17 miles south of Quinhagak, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91, when the accident occurred. The solo commercial pilot died at the scene. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was one of two airplanes flying from Iliamna, Alaska to Nome, Alaska, with an en route fuel stop in Dillingham, Alaska. According to personnel at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Dillingham Flight Service Station, both airplanes departed Dillingham about 1618.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on June 10, an Alaska State Trooper reported that while on an aerial search for a missing person near Quinhagak, he noticed a large plume of black smoke rising from an area south of Quinhagak. The Trooper said that as he flew towards the source of the smoke plume, he realized that it was coming from the burning wreckage of an airplane on the beach. He added that there was a second Piper Super Cub parked on the beach, adjacent to the burning wreckage, and he could see one person walking from the burning wreckage to the parked Super Cub. The State Trooper said that he was unable to land at the accident site due to the high wind, but was eventually able to talk with the pilot of the second airplane via radio.
The Trooper said that the pilot of the second airplane reported the accident airplane had crashed while flying northbound along the beach, and that the pilot was deceased. The pilot of the second airplane did not give the State Trooper any details about the accident, but mentioned that he did not feel comfortable staying there, and said he wanted to leave. The State Trooper instructed the pilot not to leave, and that help was on the way. The State Trooper then told the second pilot that he needed to climb up to altitude to make a radio call to the Alaska State Troopers post in Bethel, Alaska, 80 miles to the north. The State Trooper said that after climbing to altitude and making the radio call, he returned to the accident site, and the second airplane was gone. The Trooper said that he was unable to contact the second pilot via radio.
On June 7, about 2300, the pilot of the second airplane contacted the NTSB IIC using a satellite telephone. During the brief telephone conversation, the pilot reported that just before the accident, the two airplanes were northbound along the beach, flying at an altitude of approximately 100 feet agl. He said that the accident airplane was flying at his 10 o'clock position when the accident pilot radioed that he saw what he thought was a whale vertebra on the beach, and that he was going take a look. The pilot of the second airplane said that the accident airplane began circling over the site, and during the second 360-degree turn, the right wing stalled, and the airplane descended to the ground in a nose-down attitude. The airplane collided with the gravel-covered beach in a near-vertical attitude, and a postcrash fire started immediately after impact.
The second pilot added that at the time of the accident there were strong westerly winds, ranging between 25 and 30 knots.
The NTSB IIC, along with a FAA airworthiness inspector from the Anchorage Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) traveled to the accident site on June 7. The airplane's incinerated wreckage had been subjected to numerous tide cycles, and no wreckage recovery is expected.
Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 1:16 am
