# Accident 19970704016899A: Piper PA32300, Skagway, AK, July 4, 1997

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: July 4, 1997, 17:30 local time
- Place: Skagway, AK
- Airport: Skagway Airport
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Fcd/Prec Ldg From Cruise
- Operating rules: Air taxi and commuter (Part 135)
- Operator: FGHA
- Location: 59.5708° N, 135.3490° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=59.5708&lon=-135.3490&mi=10
- Aircraft: N15199, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N15199-2015-05-18) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Piper PA-32-300 (registry code 7103212, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-32-300) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming TI0-540 series (registry code 41533, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-ti0-540-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA32300
- Reported engine: LYC IO540K1A5
- People aboard: 5
- Fatal injuries: 4
- Pilot flight hours: 1,815 total, 200 in this make and model, 189 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB ANC97FA097](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC97FA097) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19970704016899A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

A SIGHTSEEING PLANE CARRYING CRUISE SHIP PASSENGERS CRASHED INTO WATER. (.4)THE AIRCRAFT (ACFT) WAS ON AN AIR TAXI/SIGHTSEEING FLIGHT (FLT), WHICH WAS AN OPTIONAL TOUR TO A CRUISE LINER TRIP. AFTER VIEWING GLACIERS, FLT WAS RETURNING TO LAND. APPROACH TO AIRPORT (ARPT) WAS ALONG INLET SHORE, WHICH HAD STEEP MOUNTAINS DESCENDING TO THE WATER & INFREQUENT AREAS OF SMALL BEACH. ABOUT 1,200' ABOVE WATER & 1-1/2 MI FROM ARPT, ENGINE LOST POWER. ACFT WAS DITCHED ABOUT 100' FROM SHORE NEAR SMALL CLIFFS. PASSENGERS (PAX) EXITED 1ST INTO 39 DEG WATER, BUT NONE EXITED WITH LIFE VESTS. PLT THREW ONE LIFE VEST OUT & EXITED AS ACFT SANK. WITH HELP FROM HER HUSBAND, A PAX DONNED THE LIFE VEST THAT WAS THROWN OUT; SHE PARTIALLY INFLATED IT USING ORAL INFLATION TUBE, ALTHOUGH IT HAD CO2 CYLINDER FOR RAPID INFLATION. RESCUE HELICOPTER ARRIVED IN ABOUT 10 MIN. PAX WITH LIFE VEST & PLT WERE RESCUED; 2 PAX DROWNED; OTHER 2 PAX WERE NOT FOUND. SURVIVING PAX DID NOT RECALL BRIEFING ABOUT LOCATION OR USE OF LIFE VESTS. LIFE VESTS WERE STORED IN SEAT-BACK POUCHES, BUT POUCH OPENINGS WERE COVERED BY SLIP-COVER TYPE SEAT COVERS. EXAM OF ENGINE REVEALED LEFT MAGNETO IMPULSE COUPLING HAD FAILED, STOPPING R   OTATION OF MAGNETO DRIVE GEAR. SEVERAL GEAR TEETH ON INTERMEDIATE IDLER GEAR WERE DAMAGED, DISCONNECTING CRANSHAFT FROM ACCESSORY GEAR TRAIN.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB ANC97FA097](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC97FA097), Jul 4, 1997: Piper PA-32 (N15199), Skagway, AK, destroyed, 4 fatal. Probable cause: jamming/failure of the left magneto impulse coupling, which stopped rotation of the magneto gear, and resulted in subsequent shearing of the accessory intermediate idler gear. Factors relating to the…

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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