Piper PA-18AS accident near Tyonek, AK
On August 24, 2017, a Piper PA-18AS (airplane) was involved in an accident near Tyonek, AK. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- August 24, 2017
- Place
- Tyonek, AK
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-18AS · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 61.194°N, 152.028°W
- NTSB ID
- 20170824X71759
Official records · ANC17FA049
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn August 23, 2017, about 2245 Alaska daylight time (AKDT), a wheel-equipped Piper PA-18AS-125 airplane, N1905A, impacted remote, tree-covered terrain about 31 miles northwest of Tyonek, Alaska. The private pilot sustained fatal injuries and the airplane was destroyed. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight. Night instrument meteorological conditions were present along the airplane's route of flight at the time of the accident and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from a remote airstrip near Telaquana Lake, located in the Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, about 2130, and was destined for Merrill Field (MRI), Anchorage, Alaska. The pilot's wife reported that the pilot was returning from a solo Dall sheep hunting trip in the Alaska Range. The pilot departed from MRI on August 19 about 1630 and arrived at the remote airstrip about 1930. She reported that the length of the hunting trip was open-ended with no set return date. The pilot placed three separate phone calls via satellite phone to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Kenai Flight Service Station (FSS), Kenai, Alaska, on the night of the accident requesting weather information for his route of flight. The Kenai FSS is located at the Kenai Municipal Airport (PAEN), Kenai. Each call was dropped due to interruptions of satellite coverage. The same flight service specialist (FS-S) spoke with the pilot on all three occasions. The public docket contains the transcripts for eac
Probable cause
The noninstrument-rated pilot's decision to initiate a visual flight rules flight into dark night, marginal visual flight rules to instrument flight rules conditions, which resulted in a loss of control due to spatial disorientation.
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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.
