- Date
- May 31, 1998, 20:00 local (Jun 1, 1998, 04:00 UTC)
- Place
- Talkeetna, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N4587APiper PA-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 17, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19980531014869A
- Case key
- 3149
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's failure to maintain adequate altitude/clearance from rising terrain. A factor associated with the accident was rising 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 reported he was flying near rising terrain while scouting for potential landing sites. On a pass over a ridgeline, he realized he had miscalculated the pitch of the rising terrain. He said the airplane was unable to climb as rapidly as the rising terrain, and collided with a hillside. He said there were no preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On May 31, 1998, about 2000 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire equipped Piper PA-18 airplane, N4587A, sustained substantial damage when it collided with terrain during a low pass over a potential landing site located about 20 miles northwest of Talkeetna, Alaska. The commercial pilot and the one passenger aboard were not injured. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight departed Talkeetna about 1830. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was filed.
During a telephone conversation with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on June 1, the pilot related he was taking the passenger to scout potential landing sites for a future rafting trip. On one low pass over a ridge top, the pilot said he miscalculated the pitch of the rising terrain. He said the airplane was unable to climb as rapidly as the rising terrain, and collided with a hillside.
The pilot indicated there were no preimpact mechanical difficulties with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4587A
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-4896
- Airframe hours
- 4,380
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gerald L. Sousa
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 15, 1998 · 70 hours before
- Departed
- TKA
- Flight plan
- 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
- 39
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 2,300 total · 1,720 in this make and model · 2,175 as pilot in command · 150 in the last 90 days · 1,256 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 225° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 50 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.