Piper PA 18-150 N83422

Summary

On 16 August 2014 at about 19:00 local time, a Piper PA 18-150 registered N83422 was involved in an accident near Skwentna, 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

16 August 2014 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Skwentna, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

61.9298, -151.7294

Aircraft

Piper PA 18-150

Registration

N83422

Category

Airplane

Year built

1976

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Anchorage → Skwentna

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC14CA066

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain the proper approach path for landing, and his delayed remedial action, which resulted in an undershoot and collision with terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a flight to go fishing on a river, two of the three planned landing strips the pilot was going to land on were covered with water. The third had fog present. As a result the pilot looked for an alternate place to land and discovered a gravel bar in the river which looked to be about 800 feet long. He flew several passes over the gravel bar to assess its condition and then decided to land. During the landing flare, he noticed that the airplane was below the edge of the gravel. He added power to try and clear the edge, but the airplane touched down on a 1 to 2 foot long muddy, downwash area that existed just prior to the gravel bar, and the left main landing gear then struck the gravel bar's edge. Examination of the airplane revealed that it had incurred substantial damage to the airframe. The pilot reported there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.