Piper PA-32-300 N4060W

Summary

On 17 April 1983 at about 19:00 local time, a Piper PA-32-300 registered N4060W was involved in an accident near Bettles, Alaska, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

17 April 1983 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Bettles, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

67.2403, -152.2693

Aircraft

Piper PA-32-300

Registration

N4060W

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fairbanks → Deadhorse

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC83FA071

1 person died.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, THE ACFT WAS SEEN FLYING ALONG THE TRANS ALASKA PIPELINE AT AN ESTIMATED ALT OF 200 FT AGL. AS THE ACFT ENTERED A PASS, WHERE THE PIPELINE CROSSED RISING TERRAIN, A WITNESS HEARD THE ACFT'S ENG POWER INCREASE, THEN THE PLANE DISAPPEARED FROM HIS VIEW IN FALLING SNOW. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, HE COULD NO LONGER HEAR THE ENG & ASSUMED THE ACFT HAD MADE IT THRU THE PASS. LATER, THE ACFT WAS FOUND BY A PIPELINE HELICOPTER PLT WHERE IT HAD CRASHED AT THE 4700 LEVEL OF THE PASS. THE PIPELINE PLT REPORTED THE VISIBILITY WAS 1/2 MI IN SNOW & THE CEILING WAS 100 FT OBSCURED AT THE HIGHEST POINT IN THE PASS. WITNESSES AT THE BASE OF THE PASS ESTIMATED THE CEILING WAS 100 TO 200 FT, THE VISIBILITY WAS 1/2 TO 1 MI & LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW WAS FALLING. THE CRASH SITE WAS LOCATED JUST BEYOND THE POINT WHERE THE PIPELINE TRANSITIONED FROM AN ABOVE GROUND INSTALLATION TO A BELOW GROUND INSTALLATION. NO EVIDENCE OF A PREIMPACT MALFUNCTION WAS FOUND.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.