- Date
- August 16, 2014, 11:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Skwentna, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N83422Piper PA 18-150
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Landing area undershoot
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 13, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20140816015489A
- Case key
- 89929
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 failure to maintain the proper approach path for landing, and his delayed remedial action, which resulted in an undershoot and collision with terrain.
Findings · 4
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
During a flight to go fishing on a river, two of the three planned landing strips the pilot was going to land on were covered with water. The third had fog present. As a result the pilot looked for an alternate place to land and discovered a gravel bar in the river which looked to be about 800 feet long. He flew several passes over the gravel bar to assess its condition and then decided to land. During the landing flare, he noticed that the airplane was below the edge of the gravel. He added power to try and clear the edge, but the airplane touched down on a 1 to 2 foot long muddy, downwash area that existed just prior to the gravel bar, and the left main landing gear then struck the gravel bar's edge. Examination of the airplane revealed that it had incurred substantial damage to the airframe. The pilot reported there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
During a flight to go fishing on a river, two of the three planned landing strips the pilot was going to land on were covered with water. The third had fog present. As a result the pilot looked for an alternate place to land and discovered a gravel bar in the river which looked to be about 800 feet long. He flew several passes over the gravel bar to assess its condition and then decided to land. During the landing flare, he noticed that the airplane was below the edge of the gravel. He added power to try and clear the edge, but the airplane touched down on a 1 to 2 foot long muddy, downwash area that existed just prior to the gravel bar, and the left main landing gear then struck the gravel bar's edge. Examination of the airplane revealed that it had incurred substantial damage to the airframe. The pilot reported there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N83422
- Reported as
- Piper PA 18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7609127
- Built
- 1976
- Airframe hours
- 247
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 6, 2013 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- AMR · Anchorage, AK
- Destination
- Skwentna, 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
- 56
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 27, 2013
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 868 total · 515 in this make and model · 731 as pilot in command · 41 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.70 inHg
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 5, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.7 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.