- Date
- June 18, 1989, 17:00 local (Jun 19, 1989, 01:00 UTC)
- Place
- Rainbow Lake, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N5087YPiper PA-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 29, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19890619016289A
- Case key
- 5201
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
Pilot in command's failure to maintain an airspeed (angle of attack) that would preclude a stall.
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 private pilot and his passenger were returning from a local fishing trip and had just taken off from a sand bar near their fishing site. Shortly after becoming airborne, the pilot said that the 'wind stalled the right wing'. He lost control of the airplane and was unable to recover prior to crashing into a lake.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5087Y
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7894
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Beck, Ronald E.
- Registered owner
- Beck, Ronald E
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 27, 1988 · 50 hours before
- Airport
- NONE
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
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 400 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °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 N5087Y · 4
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.