- Date
- August 24, 2025, 08:20 local (16:20 UTC)
- Place
- Chicken, AK
- Injuries
- 2 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N7771NPiper PA-28-180
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Loss of engine power (partial)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20250824014519A
- Case key
- 200861
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Preliminary report
What NTSB knew early in the investigation. It may change in the final report.
On August 24, 2025, about 0820 Alaska daylight time, a Piper PA-28-180 airplane, N7771N, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Chicken, Alaska. The pilot and one passenger sustained minor injuries; the second passenger was uninjured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to the pilot, during climb-out following a low pass to inspect the gravel runway at Chicken Airport, the engine experienced a partial loss of power accompanied by a vibration. The airplane subsequently impacted terrain approximately half a mile northwest of the airfield, resulting in substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage. The wreckage will be recovered to a secure facility, and a detailed NTSB examination is pending.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7771N
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-5218
- Built
- 1969
- Airframe hours
- 5,375.87
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 2, 2024
- Departed
- 6K8 · Tok Junction, AK
- Destination
- CKX · Chicken, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- CKX · Chicken, runway 31, 2,500 × 60 ft, gravel
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Angle of attack indicator, ADS-B, Stall warning system, Satellite tracking device
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.
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 120° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.89 inHg
- Observed at
- PAEG, 47 nm away
- METAR
- PAEG 241553Z AUTO 12007KT 10SM SCT070 OVC085 14/10 A2989 RMK AO2 SLP121 T01390100 TSNO $
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.