- Date
- September 22, 1998, 13:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- New Stuyahok, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N7689HPiper PA-12
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 30, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19980922025719A
- Case key
- 44015
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 selection of an unsuitable takeoff area and his intentional ground loop maneuver. A factor associated with the accident was trees.
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 commercial pilot was attempting a southwesterly departure from a 400 feet long dry lakebed in a tailwheel equipped airplane. The pilot said that midway into the takeoff run, he realized that the airplane would be unable to gain sufficient altitude to clear a stand of trees at the end of the lakebed. He said that he aborted the takeoff, and landed about midpoint on the lakebed. He realized that he would be unable to stop the airplane before reaching the end of the lakebed, and elected to make a hard right turn. During the turn, the left wing and left elevator struck the ground, and received substantial damage. The pilot noted that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On September 22, 1998, about 1300 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Piper PA-12 airplane, N7689H, sustained substantial damage during takeoff from a dry lakebed located about 6 miles east of New Stuyahok, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The solo commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the New Stuyahok Airport, New Stuyahok, about 1225.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on September 23, the pilot reported that he was attempting a southwesterly departure from a 400 feet long dry lakebed. He stated that midway into the takeoff run, he realized that the airplane would be unable to gain sufficient altitude to clear a stand of trees at the end of the lakebed. The pilot said that he aborted the takeoff, and landed about midpoint on the lakebed. He realized that he would be unable to stop the airplane before reaching the end of the lakebed, and elected to make a hard right turn. During the turn, the left wing and left elevator struck the ground, and received substantial damage.
The pilot noted that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7689H
- Reported as
- Piper PA-12
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 12-579
- Airframe hours
- 2,483
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Moving Up 2, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 22, 1998 · 86 hours before
- Departed
- KNW · AK
- 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
- 40
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 5,600 total · 650 in this make and model · 400 in the last 90 days · 150 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 45 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.