Piper PA-18-150 N40283

Summary

On 23 December 2010 at about 18:30 local time, a Piper PA-18-150 registered N40283, operated by Mark A. Keech, was involved in an accident near Clear, Alaska, United States. One person was 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

23 December 2010 at 18:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Clear, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

64.3333, -149.7000

Aircraft

Piper PA-18-150

Registration

N40283

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Mark A. Keech

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Minchumina → Fairbanks

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC11CA005

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to water/ice in the fuel system.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that while in level cruise flight, the airplane's engine began to lose power, and then lost all power. He said he was unable to restart the engine, and selected a snow and tree-covered area as a forced landing site. During the forced landing, the airplane's left wing collided with a tree, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, and left wing. He said that at the time of the accident the outside air temperature was minus 22 degrees F, and that during his postaccident inspection of the airplane he discovered that the engine fuel gascolator filter had become blocked by ice crystals. He stated that there were no preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane, and noted that the accident might have been prevented if he had removed the gascolator during his preflight to check for ice crystals, or preheated the engine, and then drained the water from the gascolator.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.