Piper PA-18 N9146D

Summary

On 15 October 2004 at about 21:00 local time, a Piper PA-18 registered N9146D was involved in an accident near Wasilla, Alaska, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

15 October 2004 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Wasilla, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Kalmbach Strip (43AK)

Coordinates

61.6028, -149.5750

Aircraft

Piper PA-18

Registration

N9146D

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wasilla → Wasilla

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC05CA007

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed during the landing approach, which resulted in a stall and an uncontrolled descent to the runway. A factor contributing to the accident was an inadvertent stall.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private certificated pilot was making a left turn from a base leg entry to the final approach course for landing. The pilot indicated that during the turn, he was about 100 feet above ground level (agl) and over the threshold of the airstrip. He said that he added engine power to arrest his descent, but the engine rpm did not respond for about 3 to 4 seconds. Within that time period, the airplane stalled and descended to the ground. He leveled the wings before runway contact, and the airplane collided with the runway surface in a wings-level attitude. The main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane received damage to the left wing lift struts, the left wingtip, and the propeller.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.