Piper PA-18 N4126E

Summary

On 15 October 2004 at about 22:06 local time, a Piper PA-18 registered N4126E was involved in an accident near Anchorage, 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

15 October 2004 at 22:06

Classification

Accident

Location

Anchorage, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Lake Hood Seaplane Base (PALH)

Coordinates

61.2264, -149.9886

Aircraft

Piper PA-18

Registration

N4126E

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Anchorage → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC05FA008

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane due to spatial disorientation, which resulted in an uncontrolled descent and collision with water during maneuvering flight. Factors contributing to the accident were fog and low ceilings.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private certificated pilot of a float-equipped airplane was the second of two, unrelated Piper airplanes that requested a special VFR (SVFR) clearance from a seaplane base within 1 minute of each other, for a local flight over an ocean inlet that was about 2.3 nautical miles wide. The weather conditions at the airport included overcast skies at 400 feet, and a visibility of 2 miles in mist. About 2 minutes after departure, the accident pilot requested to return to the seaplane base, stating in part, "it's really thick out here." No further communication was received from the pilot. The pilot of the first Piper airplane to depart also decided to return, and spotted the tail of the accident Piper protruding from the water about mid-channel of the inlet. The first Piper pilot notified air traffic control (ATC) of the situation, and then landed on the water to render any assistance. The first Piper was not equipped with any position locating equipment, consequently, the accident location was an estimate by the pilot. The accident Piper sank within about 2 minutes, and no survivor was observed. The accident pilot and the airplane have not been found. A witness located on the shore of the inlet saw the accident Piper appear from the base of a fog bank that was over the inlet. The airplane descended out of the fog about 100 feet above the water in a left bank of about 45 degrees, and about 20 degrees nose down. The airplane descended until it collided with the water about mid-channel, impacting the water with the left wing first, and immediately began to sink. Water search efforts were initiated that involved the use of a 2-crew hovercraft, a Coast Guard rigid-hull inflatable boat (RIB), a fire department rescue RIB, a commercial tug, and a volunteer underwater mapping vessel. The use of helicopters was unsuccessful because of low ceilings and low visibility. The search for the accident pilot and airplane was suspended by the fire department about 1.5 hours after the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.