Piper PA-18 N8106Y

Summary

On 31 March 2003 at about 22:00 local time, a Piper PA-18 registered N8106Y was involved in an accident near Port Alsworth, 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

31 March 2003 at 22:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Port Alsworth, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

60.4833, -155.6667

Aircraft

Piper PA-18

Registration

N8106Y

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Port Alsworth → Port Alsworth

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC03LA040

Nobody was injured.

A loss of engine power for an undetermined reason. A contributing factor in the accident was the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial certificated pilot was landing at a remote gravel airstrip. During final approach to the gravel bar/airstrip, the pilot said the airplane encountered a minor downdraft, and as he began to add engine power to arrest the resulting descent, the engine did not respond with any increase in power. He said he pumped the throttle without any response. The airplane continued to descend and touched down in an area of low brush, about 50 yards short of the airstrip. During the touchdown, the right main landing gear collapsed and the right wingtip struck the ground. The pilot, who holds an aircraft mechanic certificate, reported that the engine was overhauled and reinstalled on the airplane three days before the accident. At that time, he installed an overhauled carburetor. He indicated that during attempts to run the engine, after the accident, the engine would start and run at idle power. He noticed a binding of the carburetor's throttle cable or internal carburetor linkage. He replaced the throttle cable, but still felt a binding in the throttle mechanism. The pilot said he disconnected the throttle cable from the carburetor, and hand operated the throttle arm. It had binding only when the engine was running. The NTSB IIC conducted an examination of the carburetor at an aviation maintenance facility. No mechanical malfunctions were discovered during the examination.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.