Piper PA-18-150 N444LZ

Summary

On 13 October 2012 at about 10:48 local time, a Piper PA-18-150 registered N444LZ, operated by Brendan L. Mattingley, was involved in an accident near Kenai, Alaska, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

13 October 2012 at 10:48

Classification

Accident

Location

Kenai, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

60.4728, -151.0222

Aircraft

Piper PA-18-150

Registration

N444LZ

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Brendan L. Mattingley

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Soldotna → Palmer

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

ANC13FAMS1

1 person died.

Undetermined. The airplane and pilot were not found.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The solo student pilot likely departed during dark night conditions on a personal, visual flight rules, cross-country flight between two Alaskan communities. An Alaska state trooper said that, during his initial investigation, he learned that the pilot was asked by security personnel to leave a bar after a disturbance with other bar patrons. The bar security guard stated that the “very intoxicated” individual left in a taxicab about midnight. The taxicab driver reported that, just after midnight, he drove the pilot to the airport. The taxicab driver stated that the pilot told him that he intended to sleep in the airplane overnight, which was something that he had done many times before. A review of archived radar data revealed that, about 0137, an unidentified aircraft, believed to be the missing airplane, departed from the airport. After departure, the radar target initially proceeded southeast of the airport before it turned and flew west, then northeast, before making a series of erratic turns, along with several changes in speed, heading, and altitude. Eventually, the radar target proceeded northwest over a saltwater inlet, before turning back to the northeast. The last position of the radar target was recorded about 0248, roughly mid-channel, while in a descent over the inlet, about 30 miles north of the departure airport. The area of the presumed crash site experiences extreme tides and strong currents, with reduced visibility due to turbidity. An extensive search was conducted, but the airplane has been declared missing and is presumed to have crashed; the student pilot is presumed to have received fatal injuries.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.