- Date
- July 2, 1993, 10:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Iliamna, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N9872MMaule M4
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19930702021999A
- Case key
- 2375
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 in command's improper taxi speed. A factor in the accident was the rough water.
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
During the step taxi the flight encountered rough water and the airplane nosed over.
Factual narrative
On July 2, 1993, at 1000 Alaska daylight time, a float equipped Maule M4 airplane, N9872M, registered to and operated by the pilot in command, nosed over while taxiing on Char Lake, approximately 20 miles southwest of Iliamna, Alaska. The private certificated pilot and one passenger, the sole occupants, were not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal flight, operating under 14 CFR Part 91, last departed Port Alsworth and the destination was Char Lake. No flight plan was filed and visual meteorological conditions prevailed.
During a telephone interview, the pilot in command told the NTSB investigator in charge that he was performing a downwind taxi when the left float tucked beneath the water causing the airplane to roll inverted.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9872M
- Reported as
- Maule M4
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1054C
- Engine
- Continental IO-360-A, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Pfeifer, Roger A.
- Registered owner
- Pfeifer, Roger A.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 20, 1993 · 28 hours before
- Destination
- Char Lake, AK
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
- 47
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 5,000 total · 800 in this make and model · 2,500 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 10 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 45 °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 N9872M · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.