- Date
- October 12, 1988, 19:00 local (Oct 13, 1988, 03:00 UTC)
- Place
- Little Heart Lk, AK
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N3153MPiper PA-12
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report December 29, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19881012045649A
- Case key
- 5095
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-in-command called a local pilot in the talkeetna area for weather and the conditions of the lake to determine if the lake's surface had frozen. He then departed for the lake at 1800 adt and was not heard from again. The airplane wreckage was located within one quarter of a mile of his destination, Little Heart lake, just to thesoutheast of the shoreline. No mechanical irregularities were found during the on-scene investigation. The wreckage site was surrounded by trees and alder shrubs which showed no signs of impact or branch breakage. The aircraft came to rest in a near vertical attitude.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3153M
- Reported as
- Piper PA-12
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 12-1840
- Airframe hours
- 1,430
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- John M. Allen
- Registered owner
- John M Allen
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 21, 1987 · 70 hours before
- Departed
- LHD · Anchorage, AK
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
- 44
- Certificates
- Commercial, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 826 total · 73 in this make and model · 719 as pilot in command · 35 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 340° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 30 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TKA, 17 nm away
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 N3153M · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.