- Date
- August 8, 2015, 19:00 local (Aug 9, 2015, 03:00 UTC)
- Place
- Talkeetna, AK
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N9265DPiper PA 18-150
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 23, 2017
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA Denali CMO
- FAA report
- 20150808021689A
- Case key
- 91803
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
Impact with terrain during low-level cruise flight for reasons that could not be determined based on the available information.
Findings · 3
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 returning home after delivering passengers to a remote hunting camp. He recalled flying about 500 ft above ground level and looking at the north side of a mountain. The next thing that he remembered was waking up with a broken leg and the airplane on the ground. He extracted himself from the wreckage and requested assistance via satellite phone. He had no recollection of the events leading up to the accident. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings, the fuselage, and empennage. The pilot noted that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane was not recovered from the accident site.
Factual narrative
On August 8, 2015, about 1900 Alaska daylight time, a Piper PA-18-150 airplane, N9265D, was substantially damaged after a loss of control and a subsequent collision with terrain about 45 miles west of Talkeetna, Alaska. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant, sustained serious injuries. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a Federal Aviation Administration flight plan had not been filed for the flight. The pilot stated that he was returning home after dropping off some hunters at a remote hunting camp. During the flight home, flying about 500 feet above ground level, he was looking at the north side of Sleeping Lady mountain. The next thing that he remembered was after the airplane had crashed and he had a broken leg. He extracted himself from the wreckage, found a satellite phone and requested assistance. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings, fuselage, and empennage. A UH-60 helicopter from the Alaska Air National Guard located the accident site on the evening of the accident and transported the pilot to a medical facility for treatment. In the NTSB form 6120.1 submitted by the pilot, he noted that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. He added that the airplane was not recovered from the accident site.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9265D
- Reported as
- Piper PA 18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-6563
- Built
- 1958
- Airframe hours
- 3,467
- Engine
- Lycoming 0-320 SERIES, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 8, 2015
- Departed
- Z41 · Anchorage, AK
- Destination
- Z41 · Anchorage, AK
- Equipment
- None
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
- 38
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 24, 2015
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 8,000 total · 650 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.75 inHg
- Observed at
- PATK, 45 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 25, 2017, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.5 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.