- Date
- July 29, 1989, 13:25 local (21:25 UTC)
- Place
- Wasilla, AK
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N9681BCessna 180A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 9, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19890729025809A
- Case key
- 5117
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
Inadequate preflight by the pilot which resulted in fuel starvation due to an inadequate supply of fuel and his failure to maintain adequate airspeed while maneuvering back toward the lake which resulted in an inadvertent stall. The house & trees were considered to be contributing factors.
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 plt flew the float plane to cottonwood lake for maintenance. A quick drain was installed in one wing of the acft & the other wing tank was drained. The plt was aware of the low fuel condition, but did not visually inspect the tanks before the flt. The mechanic, who worked on the acft, told the plt of the low fuel condition, but the plt believed there was sufficient fuel to fly to Wasilla lake, which was just 3 mi west of cottonwood lake. Shortly after takeoff, the eng lost power. The plt tried to turn back to cottonwood lake to land, but didn't have enough alt. He said the acft stalled & crashed into trees as he was turning away from a house. Less than one gal of fuel was found in one tank & the other tank had about 1 quart of fuel remaining. According to the owner's manual, 1.5 gal of fuel was unusable in maneuvering flt & one gal was unusable in level flt.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9681B
- Reported as
- Cessna 180A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32978
- Airframe hours
- 3,311
- Engine
- Continental O-470-K, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Ferry · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Erich P. Napflin
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 14, 1989 · 184 hours before
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
- 31
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 350 total · 183 in this make and model · 325 as pilot in command · 183 in the last 90 days · 87 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 60° at 15 knots, gusting 25
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 55 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.