- Date
- July 26, 1994, 13:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Deadhorse, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N4341ZPiper PA-18-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 24, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19940726027189A
- Case key
- 2543
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 partial loss of engine power for undetermined reasons and the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing.
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 was conducting the flight for the purpose of game spotting. The pilot landed the airplane about 3/4THS down a 800 foot long unimproved strip and elected to go-around. During the go-around, the plane's engine experienced a partial loss of power, and the pilot was forced to land the airplane on a rock strewn surface. A subsequent examination of the plane's engine by the pilot/operator did not reveal the cause of the partial loss of power.
Factual narrative
On July 26, 1994, at 1300 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire equipped Piper PA18-150 airplane, N4341Z, owned and operated by the pilot-in-command, collided with terrain near the Hula Hula River, approximately 120 miles east of Deadhorse, Alaska. The commercial certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The pleasure flight, conducted under 14 CFR Part 91, departed Deadhorse at approximately 0900 for the purpose of game spotting in the vicinity of the accident site. The pilot reported that calm winds and visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and that no flight plan was in effect.
During a telephone conversation on the afternoon of July 27, 1994, the pilot told the NTSB investigator-in-charge that he landed the airplane about 3/4ths of the way down a 800ft. X 60ft. unimproved landing strip and he elected to go around. Just after lift off, the engine began missing and he was forced to land the plane on a rocky surface about 900 feet beyond the landing strip.
A subsequent inspection of the airplane by the pilot/operator did not reveal the cause of the partial loss of power.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4341Z
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Airframe hours
- 2,100
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Canvas Back Leasing
- Registered owner
- Canvas Back Leasing
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 1, 1994 · 37 hours before
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
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
- 53
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 2,400 total · 1,600 in this make and model · 2,400 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 52 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.