ANC26FA091

On August 26, 2026 about 1317 Alaska daylight time, a Piper PA-24-260 airplane, N9485P, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Seldovia, Alaska. The pilot and three passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot and three passengers departed from Merrill Field Airport (PAMR), Anchorage, Alaska, for a day flight to Seldovia Airport (PASO), Seldovia, Alaska. A witness at the Seldovia airport heard the airplane approaching to land on runway 16 and the airplane appeared to be coming in fast. He then heard a series of bounces which sounded hard and abnormal. The first bounce was loud and not a normal touchdown sound. He heard a second bounce which also sounded hard and abnormal. He visually saw the third bounce and believed that the nosewheel hit the ground first. He then heard the engine go to full throttle. He stated that the aircraft pitched up very high and possibly had a tail strike. A witness working with heavy equipment near the end of the runway saw the airplane and noted the airplane was unusually low to the ground just past the end of the runway. He further noted that the accident airplane had attempted to land in the opposite direction of other airplanes that had been landing. Multiple ground witnesses reported seeing the airplane unusually low to the ground, the engine being very loud, and the airplane impacting a tree before descending into the water. The FAA’s chart supplement for the airport notes that surface of the Seldovia Airport runway is gravel and the length is 1,845 ft. The slope to clear obstructions for runway 16 is 11:1. The supplement notes 158 ft trees, 1,735 ft from runway 16 and 110 ft left of the centerline. For runway 34, the supplement notes an 89 ft tree, 995 ft from the runway, and 140 ft right of the centerline. The Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) weather station at the airport at the time of the accident was reporting wind from 020 at 5 knots with wind gusts at 9 knots. The airplane came to rest about 2,200 ft from the end of runway 16 into the Seldovia Slough. A detailed wreckage examination is pending.