ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 291900
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| Date: | Saturday 19 August 2006 |
| Time: | 09:15 LT |
| Type: | Piper PA-16 |
| Owner/operator: | James Hagee |
| Registration: | N5280H |
| MSN: | 16-84 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 3455 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-290-D2 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Chugiak, Alaska -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Unknown |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Mirror Lake, AK |
| Katie Lake, AK | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The private certificated pilot was on a visual flight rules, personal cross-country flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the float-equipped airplane lost engine power during initial climb after takeoff. The pilot made a 180 degree turn toward the departure lake, but the airplane stalled and impacted trees. The pilot said he had moored the airplane for a week in the rain with the fuel tanks three-quarters empty. The morning of the accident, he fueled both tanks with a mixture of aviation and auto fuel. He said the preflight and engine run-up were normal, and that he used carburetor heat when the engine was idling, but not during step-taxi or takeoff. He said as the airplane climbed over trees along the shore, the engine backfired twice, and quit completely. At the site, the NTSB investigator found 5-6 pieces of "chopped" wood, each piece was about 18 inches long, about 2 inches in diameter, and appeared to have been cut by the airplane's propeller sometime during the uncontrolled descent. The engine was not accessible, and was not examined. The airplane was disassembled by agents for the pilot and stored. The pilot reported that with the airplane on floats, the wings were in a more level attitude than when sitting on the tailwheel, and any water in the tanks was more likely to move away from the sumps. He added that his practice of standing on the front of the floats while taking the fuel samples probably moved any contaminants further from the sumps. The pilot reported that in his opinion, the loss of power was due to water contamination of the fuel as a result of leaving the tanks three-quarters empty during a rainy period, in conjunction with a flawed sumping procedure.
Probable Cause: The pilot's failure to properly preflight the airplane and remove all water from the fuel system, which resulted in a loss of engine power during takeoff/initial climb, and subsequent loss of control. Factors associated with the accident are the pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed to preclude a stall, and the inadvertent stall.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB ANC06LA118
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 9 June 1998 | N5280H | Private | 0 | Anchorage, AK | |
sub |
| 20 July 2001 | N5280H | Private | 0 | Anchorage, AK | |
sub |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Oct-2022 06:30 | ASN Update Bot | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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