Piper PA-22-160 accident near Sterling, AK
On October 3, 1997, a Piper PA-22-160 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Sterling, AK. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- October 3, 1997
- Place
- Sterling, AK
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-22-160 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 60.539°N, 150.790°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001208X08943
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On October 3, 1997, about 1500 Alaska daylight time, a float equipped Piper PA-22-160 airplane, N8955D, crashed in a remote lake, about 12 miles east of Sterling, Alaska. The airplane was not recovered. The pilot is presumed to have received fatal injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The Soldotna, Alaska, office of the Alaska State Troopers, reported the pilot maintained a residence on Caribou Island, located in Skilak Lake. Neighbors of the pilot reported that the pilot was repairing a hole in the accident airplane's floats. The pilot had been observed by the neighbors wearing a pair of chest waders. The neighbors heard an airplane engine start up about 1500 to 1530. The engine sound stopped abruptly. The airplane was not observed. About 1720, an airplane over-flying the lake, observed the accident airplane partially submerged. It was floating upside down, about 1/2 mile from the pilot's residence. Helicopter search and rescue personnel from Anchorage, Alaska, and a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Officer from the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, Kenai, Alaska, responded to the scene. Several neighbors already at the scene in a boat, attached a rope to the partially submerged airplane, and attempted to tow the airplane toward shore. The neighbors noted a pair of chest waders attached to the tail section of the airplane. Rescue divers from the helicopter were unable to determine if the airplane was occupied before it sank in 139 feet of water. The rope attached to the airplane was cut when the airplane began to sink, endangering the tow boat
Probable cause
Undetermined.
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Browse: Alaska · Piper aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
