ANC94FA029

Approximately one minute after departure from a glacier while performing a shallow climbing turn to the right at an altitude of approximately 200 feet AGL, the engine lost power. The airplane descended to the ground out of control. The pilot was observed to check the fuel for contamination, clear light snow from the wings and tail surfaces, preheat the engine for 50 minutes, and run the engine for 7 minutes before commencing the takeoff.

1.1 History of flight

On January 17, 1994, at approximately 1130 Alaska standard time, a wheel/ski equipped Piper PA18-160 airplane, N6574L, registered to and operated by the pilot-in-command, crashed on a glaciated snow bridge at the 5100 foot level of the Matanuska Glacier following a loss of engine power. The coordinates of the accident site are North 61.34.99 - West 147.28.61. The nearest populated settlement to the site is Palmer, Alaska, located approximately 45 nautical miles to the east. The pleasure flight, conducted under 14 CFR Part 91, departed the glacier about one minute prior to the accident and the intended destination was the Lake Hood Airstrip in Anchorage, Alaska, situated about 90 nautical miles to the southwest, where the flight originated on January 15, 1994. The surviving passenger reported high ceilings and good visibility with light winds and no turbulence were present in the area at the time of the accident. There was no VFR flight plan on file for the flight.

1.2 Injuries to persons

Fatal: Pilot Serious: Passenger

1.3 Damage to aircraft

The airplane was destroyed from the impact with the snow and ice covered terrain.

1.4 Other damage

None.

1.5 Personnel information

Pilot

Kevin Byron Park, date of birth March 22, 1956, was the holder of private pilot certificate No. 574321888, latest issue date April 9, 1992, with the privileges and limitations of airplane single engine land, instrument. His third class medical certificate, issued on January 13, 1993, and contained the limitation, "must wear corrective lenses". Mr. Parks indicated on the application for his medical that his total civilian flight hours was 1100.

The pilot's immediate family provided the NTSB with two personal flight time logs which bore his name. The flight logs covered the period July 13, 1976 thru August 12, 1992. The logs contained entries for Cessna 150, Mooney M20F, and Piper PA18 aircraft. Total combined flight time recorded in the logs was 949.9 hours. The first recorded entry of a flight made in a PA18 aircraft, which also occurred in N6574L, was July 25, 1992. The pilot's total recorded flight time in N6574L was 8.9 hours covering the period July 25 thru August 12, 1994. Additional entries recorded in the logs included a date of July 1992 which indicated that a flight instructor had found him competent to act as pilot-in-command of tail-wheel airplanes. Mr. Park's family advised the NTSB that he was known to record his flight time in a small yellow notebook. The whereabouts of the notebook is unknown. Mr. Parks also owned a Cessna 206. Another flight instructor in the Anchorage area reported to the NTSB that in June of 1993 he gave Mr. Parks a Biannual flight review (BFR) in N6574L and that the review included slow flight and stalls.

No record was found of Mr. Parks recent flight experience. Unofficial accounts from friends and acquaintances indicate that he would try to fly at least once a week or as often as his job as an emergency room physician would allow.

Passenger information

On the afternoon of January 19, 1994, the passenger on board N6474L, Mr. Richard Baranow, a 36 year old male from Anchorage, Alaska, was interview at Providence Hospital by the NTSB investigator-in-charge. Also present at the interview were the passengers brother, and Mr. Lee Allen of the FAA. The following information was provided by Mr. Baranow.

He is a chemist by profession and does not possess a pilot certificate. His flying experience with Mr. Parks consisted of four or five previous flights. The two of them departed the Lake Hood Airstrip in Anchorage, Alaska on Saturday afternoon, January 15, 1994, for the purpose of flying to and landing on the Matanuska Glacier to climb nearby mountains. They landed on the glacier between 1300 and 1400 at a site that was about one fourth of a mile down from the climbers hut. They unloaded their gear and Mr. Parks performed three touch and go landings on the glacier. Afterwards, Mr. Parks placed a cover around the engine cowling. No wing covers were placed over the wings and he did not recall seeing any covers inside the airplane. The decision was made on Sunday night, January 16, 1994, to get up early on Monday morning and return to Anchorge because Mr. Parks had to be at work at 12 o'clock noon. The two of them got to bed around one a.m. and awoke at around seven a.m. Mr. Baranow characterized the weather on the glacier on Monday morning as a pretty day with a somewhat clear sky and calm wind. He observed Mr. Parks remove the engine cowl blanked and the light dusting of snow from the plane's exterior surfaces and drain fuel from the plane's left and right fuel wing tanks and the engine fuel sump. Prior to starting the engine, Mr. Parks used a gas powered engine heater for approximately 50 minutes to warm the engine. Afterwards, the engine was run for approximately five minutes then shutdown and Mr. Baranow boarded the back seat of the plane. The engine was restarted and run for about two minutes before the takeoff was commenced. The engine sounded fine while he was outside the airplane but sounded a bit different when seated inside. From inside he characterized the engine sounding similar to an automobile engine shortly after being started on a cold morning. He advised Mr. Parks of his observations. Mr. Parks told him that the sounds emitted by the engine as well as the engine instrument indications were normal. He did not recall the position of the flaps. The takeoff from the glacier was made to the north and the takeoff run and initial climb out were uneventful. After the plane became airborne, Mr. Parks made a shallow climbing turn to the left, not quite a 180 degrees change in direction from the initial takeoff heading. Approximately one minute after departing the glacier, while in a normal climbing attitude, Mr. Parks made a shallow banking turn to the left and was in the process of making a similar turn to the right when the engine suddenly lost power without warning. At the time, the plane was approximately 200 feet above the ground. He was not aware of the plane's indicated airspeed but felt it was slow and at or close to what he was accustomed to sensing on previous flights with the pilot. After the engine lost power, it may have sputtered once. No unusual loud and/or metallic sounds were emitted by the engine either prior to or after power interruption. Almost immediately afterward, the airplane fell like a rock. He had the feeling that the airplane pitched down rather abruptly and banked to the right before colliding with the ground. He was rescued by pararescue personnel at about 1130 on January 18, 1994.

1.6 AIRCRAFT INFORMATION Airplane N6574L, having serial number 18-7409106, was manufactured in 1974 under the standard/normal certification process. The airplane was registered to Kevin B. Parks on August 10, 1992. The maximum certificated gross takeoff weight of the airplane was 1750 pounds. FAA records indicate that the airplane had no previous accident/incident history. At the time of the accident, the total hours on the airframe was 1766.

Fuel records indicated that prior to the flight's departure to the glacier on January 15, 1994, the plane's wing tanks were topped off with 28 gallons of 100LL aviation gasoline resulting in a total of 36 gallons of wing fuel distributed evenly in the plane's two wing tanks. No fuel was added to the belly tank and it is not known if this vessel contained any fuel prior to the flight's departure from Anchorage. The contract fueler reported that at the completion of the fueling operation both fuel caps were on and secured to their respective tanks.

The actual all up operating weight of the airplane at the time of the accident is not known. Both