- Date
- September 24, 1991, 18:00 local (Sep 25, 1991, 02:00 UTC)
- Place
- Purkeypile Mine, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N51645Maule M-5
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 25, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19910924043149A
- Case key
- 5627
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's improper touchdown point on the gravel bar. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's inattentiveness and the ditch in the gravel bar.
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 stated that he mistakenly landed on a different part of the gravel bar than he had intended. During the landing roll he saw a ditch to his front, but was unable to stop before the airplane ran into it.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N51645
- Reported as
- Maule M-5
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 6510C
- Airframe hours
- 1,300
- Engine
- Continental IO-360, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- George Edwin Palmer
- Registered owner
- George Edwin Palmer
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 19, 1990 · 90 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Mystic Lake, AK
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
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
- 56
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,594 total · 3,300 in this make and model · 4,492 as pilot in command · 134 in the last 90 days · 71 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,000 ft broken
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.