- Date
- September 7, 2013, 18:00 local (Sep 8, 2013, 02:00 UTC)
- Place
- Talkeetna, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N4483ZPiper PA 18-150
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR go-around: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 2, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20130907021089A
- Case key
- 88031
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
The pilot's delayed decision to go-around, which resulted in a collision with water.
Findings · 1
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot was landing a tailwheel-equipped airplane at an off-airport site. On final approach she felt the wind shift, and elected to go-around. During the attempted go-around, a downdraft pushed the airplane to the ground. She steered the airplane down a tundra covered slope toward an alpine lake, in an attempt to become airborne. The airplane impacted the water sustaining substantial damage to the left wing, left aileron and empennage. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. In the recommendation section of the NTSB Accident/Incident Reporting Form 6120.1, the pilot stated that the accident may have been prevented if she had made the decision to go around earlier.
Factual narrative
The pilot was landing a tailwheel-equipped airplane at an off-airport site. On final approach she felt the wind shift, and elected to go-around. During the attempted go-around, a downdraft pushed the airplane to the ground. She steered the airplane down a tundra covered slope toward an alpine lake, in an attempt to become airborne. The airplane impacted the water sustaining substantial damage to the left wing, left aileron and empennage. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. In the recommendation section of the NTSB Accident/Incident Reporting Form 6120.1, the pilot stated that the accident may have been prevented if she had made the decision to go around earlier.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4483Z
- Reported as
- Piper PA 18-150 (A150)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-8837
- Built
- 1969
- Airframe hours
- 4,990
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 SERIES, 160 horsepower, unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 23, 2013
- Departed
- PAWS · Wasilla, AK
- Destination
- Talkeetna, AK
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
- 54
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 4, 2012
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 593 total · 462 in this make and model · 512 as pilot in command · 77 in the last 90 days · 38 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 3 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- 11,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.55 inHg
- Observed at
- PAWS, 31 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 20, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.8 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.