- Date
- August 9, 1992, 21:00 local (Aug 10, 1992, 05:00 UTC)
- Place
- Bettles, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N6592LPiper PA-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 26, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19920809034699A
- Case key
- 5783
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
The pilot's improper in flight planning/decision, and his failure to maintain a proper altitude while operating in the mountains. A contributing factor was the mountainous terrain.
Analysis
The airplane crashed at the 3300 foot level on a mountainside with an approximate 30 degree gradient. The pilot said he was on approach to land on the mountainside, and the airplane ' touched down early'. The passenger said they were planning to fly through a pass to their front, and the airplane got 'too low and too slow', then could not out climb the rising terrain. The helicopter pilot who recovered the wreckage said there were no suitable landing areas nearby.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6592L
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7409109
- Airframe hours
- 808
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Robert J. Sept
- Registered owner
- Robert J. Sept
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 16, 1992 · 14 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
- 44
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 430 total · 350 in this make and model · 430 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.