- Date
- September 19, 1993, 13:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Iliamna, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Emergency descent
- Aircraft
- N3680MPiper PA-12
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19930919034829A
- Case key
- 2431
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
Total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and the pilot's improper fuel consumption calculations. Factor was the unsuitable terrain.
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 said the engine quit due to fuel exhaustion about one mile short of his destination, where he was planning to refuel. The off-airport forced landing resulted in the airplane nosing over. The pilot said he thought he had enough fuel to reach his destination.
Factual narrative
History of flight
On September 19, 1993, at 1300 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Piper PA-12 airplane, N3680M, experienced a total loss of engine power, and nosed over during the subsequent forced landing, following fuel exhaustion during an approach to the airport at Iliamna, Alaska. The private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured, and the airplane was substantially damaged. The local personal flight, operating under 14 CFR Part 91, departed a remote site located about 20 miles west of Iliamna at 1245. Visual meteorological conditions existed, and no flight plan was filed.
Shortly after the accident during a telephone interview, the pilot stated the following in part: "I left my hunting partner and planned to fly to Iliamna to get fuel in the airplane. I knew the fuel was low in the airplane, but since Iliamna was so close, and I knew I would have a tailwind, I thought I would make it. I ran out of gas and the engine quit about a mile before I reached the runway. Upon touching down on the tundra, the airplane nosed over and was substantially damaged."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3680M
- Reported as
- Piper PA-12
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 12-2631
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Essex, Charles P.
- Registered owner
- Essex, Charles P.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
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
- 40
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 170 total · 100 in this make and model · 135 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 70 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ILI, 1 nm away
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 N3680M · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.