- Date
- July 11, 1987, 19:45 local (Jul 12, 1987, 03:45 UTC)
- Place
- Sheep Mountain, AK
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N159TPiper PA-18
- Weather
- Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 2, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19870711038779A
- Case key
- 4777
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot and his two passengers took off in a two place Piper PA-18 from a glacier after doing repair work on an aircraft that had crashed there earlier. Weather conditions were deteriorating as they approached their destination airstrip located in a nearby Mountain pass. The ceiling was estimated at 200 feet AGL, and visibility as between 1/2 and 3 miles. The pilot said that he felt intimidated by the low clouds and rising terrain surrounding the airstrip and that he inadvertently stalled the aircraft while turning from downwind to base leg.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N159T
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-2273
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Cumin L. Wiles
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 15, 1986 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- Matanuska Gal, AK
- Destination
- SMU · Sheep Mt. Lodge, AK
- Airport
- SMU · Sheep Mountain, runway 22, 2,200 × 50 ft, gravel
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
- 33
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Expired
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 872 total · 38 in this make and model · 795 as pilot in command · 45 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Day
- Wind
- 240° at 7 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- 200 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N159T · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.