- Date
- August 18, 1992, 10:02 local (18:02 UTC)
- Place
- Mackey Lake, AK
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N4714YPiper PA-18-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 28, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19920818032009A
- Case key
- 5780
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
A loss of power for undetermined reasons. A factor which contributed to the severity of the accident was the pilot inadvertently stalled the airplane.
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 reported that the engine gradually lost power (as if someone was slowly pulling the power off) during a climb from takeoff at about 300 feet above the ground. A witness (pilot) on the ground initially observed the airplane in an attitude which resembled a landing flare. The airplane then pitched forward and descended vertically toward the ground. The pilot said that he may have unintentionally stalled the airplane subsequent to the loss of engine power. The airplane crashed in a small unnamed lake, flipped onto its back, and remained in this state for the next 48 hours. A post accident external and internal examination of the fuel system hardwrae and the powerplant assembly did not reveal failures or anomalies that would indicate an inoperative condition. Likewise, the source from which the plane was fueled was unremarkable. The pilot did not possess a single engine sea rating and had not completed a biennial flight review or equivalent in 40 months.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4714Y
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 188956
- Airframe hours
- 861
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Boyson, Ronald
- Registered owner
- Fosse, Burt
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 4, 1992 · 20 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
- 49
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 600 total · 250 in this make and model · 600 as pilot in command · 35 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 70 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 48 °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 N4714Y · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.