- Date
- November 25, 1988, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Fairbanks, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N2930MPiper PA-12
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 3, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19881125053259A
- Case key
- 5149
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
The pilot misjudged the approach and failed to maintain a proper descent rate. A related factor was trees.
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 student pilot was on approach to a frozen lake when the airplane struck a row of trees and crashed on the lake. At the time of the accident the pilot was operating the airplane with an expired FAA medical certificate and an expired annual inspection. The pilot reported that on short final the airplane sunk. He was unable to correct the sink and the left wing struck a small tree. The airplane yawed to the left and impacted the lake in a left yaw condition.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2930M
- Reported as
- Piper PA-12
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 121332
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- David Bridges
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 20, 1985
- Departed
- Fairbanks, AK
- Airport
- Frozen Lake, runway 27, ice
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
- 39
- Certificate
- Student
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Expired
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 26 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 19 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.