- Date
- September 23, 2001, 11:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- North Pole, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N3961DCessna 182
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 25, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20010923025429A
- Case key
- 53662
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
A loss of engine power, due to contaminated fuel, during approach for landing. A factor associated with the accident was unsuitable terrain.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The certificated commerical pilot was conducting skydiving operations in the vicinity of the accident airport. After the airplane climbed to about 11,500 feet msl, all three of the skydivers aboard exited the airplane, and the pilot began a descent to return to the departure airport. The pilot said that while on approach, all engine power was lost, and emergency engine procedures did not restore engine power. The airplane collided with trees and sustained extensive damage to the wings, and fuselage. A responding FAA inspector gathered a fuel sample from the accident airplane's carburetor float bowl. Laboratory analysis of the sample revealed the sample met the specifications for aviation fuel. Contaminates in the fuel sample consisted of vegetative material, dirt, sand, and wood pieces.
Factual narrative
On September 23, 2001, about 1100 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped Cessna 182 airplane, N3961D, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing, while on approach to land at the Bradley Sky-Ranch Airport, North Pole, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) business flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The certificated commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the accident airport, about 1020.
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness inspector from the Fairbanks, Alaska, Flight Standards District Office, traveled to the accident scene on September 23. The FAA inspector examined the airplane, and interviewed the accident pilot. According to the FAA inspector, the accident pilot related that the airplane was being utilized to support skydiving operations in the vicinity of the accident airport. The pilot said that after climbing the airplane to about 11,500 feet msl, and after all three of the skydivers aboard exited the airplane, he began his descent to return to the Bradley Sky-Ranch Airport. The pilot said that while on approach to runway 15, all engine power was lost, and that emergency engine procedures did not restore engine power. The pilot selected a forced landing area that contained trees. The airplane collided with trees, and sustained extensive damage to the wings and fuselage. The FAA inspector obtained about one cup of fuel from the carburetor float bowl. The fuel sample was sent to a laboratory in Anchorage, Alaska, for examination and testing. The fuel sample met the specifications for aviation fuel. Analysis of the visible contaminates in the fuel sample revealed that the sample contained vegetative material, dirt, sand, and wood pieces.
The pilot supplied a written statement, but did not submit a Pilot/Operator report (NTSB form 6120.1/20).
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3961D
- Reported as
- Cessna 182
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 34661
- Engine
- Continental O-470, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 95Z · North Pole, AK
- Destination
- 95Z · North Pole, AK
- Airport
- 95Z · Bradley Sky-Ranch, runway 15, 3,400 × 80 ft, gravel
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 41
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 520 total · 120 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.