- Date
- July 26, 1995, 07:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Tyonek, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N8792DPiper PA-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 27, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19950726046359A
- Case key
- 2694
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 failure to maintain airspeed.
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 airplane stalled and then collided with terrain while he was turning from base to final approach at the dirt and grass airstrip.
Factual narrative
On July 26, 1995, about 0730 Alaska daylight time, N8792D, a Piper PA-18, collided with terrain during an uncontrolled descent while approaching to land and was substantially damaged at Kustatan airstrip, near Tyonek, Alaska. The commercial pilot and his passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed. The personal flight departed from Merrill Field in Anchorage, Alaska, and was conducted under 14 CFR 91.
According to the pilot, the intended destination was a private grass airstrip used by fishermen along the Kustatan River near Tyonek. He stated that while turning left from base to final, the airplane "entered into what appeared to be a stall/spin" and "fell out" onto the ground from an altitude of about 100 feet. The airplane impacted in a swamp about 200 feet from the approach end of the airstrip. The left wing was substantially damaged. The pilot further stated that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8792D
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-6333
- Airframe hours
- 2,900
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Carl I. Andresen
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 25, 1994 · 200 hours before
- Departed
- MRI · Anchorage, AK
- Airport
- Kustatan, runway 31, 2,000 × 100 ft, dirt
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
- 24
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 741 total · 122 in this make and model · 573 as pilot in command · 240 in the last 90 days · 80 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ENA, 13 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.