- Date
- May 28, 2022, 18:30 local (May 29, 2022, 02:30 UTC)
- Place
- Glacier View, AK · In the Matanuska River
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N4024ZPiper PA-18-150
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern base: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20220528009039A
- Case key
- 105176
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 adequate airspeed during the landing approach, which resulted in the airplane exceeding its critical angle of attack and a subsequent aerodynamic stall at an altitude too low to recover.
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 reported that, while turning the airplane from a downwind to base leg to an off-airport landing site, the airplane’s left wing stalled, and the airplane began to spin. The pilot did not have sufficient altitude to recover, and the airplane descended into a river short of the intended landing area. The airplane was destroyed and was unrecoverable. The pilot reported that there were no pre-accident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4024Z
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7977
- Built
- 1963
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 15, 2021
- Departed
- 58AK · wasilla, AK
- Destination
- Glacier View, 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
- 27
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 6, 2021
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,100 total · 500 in this make and model · 1,100 as pilot in command · 35 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Day
- Wind
- 90° at 15 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F
- Turbulence
- Moderate
- METAR
- METAR PAAQ 281853Z 18004KT 10SM CLR 18/02 A2985 RMK AO2 SLP108 T01780017
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 21, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.6 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.