Piper PA 28-180 N8648N

Summary

On 7 December 2016 at about 18:35 local time, a Piper PA 28-180 registered N8648N was involved in an accident near Port Alsworth, Alaska, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 December 2016 at 18:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Port Alsworth, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Port Alsworth (TPO)

Coordinates

60.2972, -154.1172

Aircraft

Piper PA 28-180

Registration

N8648N

Category

Airplane

Year built

1971

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Port Alsworth → Anchorage

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC17FA010

4 people died.

Undetermined due to a lack of physical evidence.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The non-instrument-rated private pilot and three passengers departed from an airport along a lakefront in an airplane not equipped or certified for flight into known icing conditions. A couple of minutes after the airplane departed, a pilot who was descending to land at the departure airport spoke with the accident pilot. The pilot of the descending airplane told the accident pilot that the tops of the clouds were about 2,000 ft. The accident pilot replied, "looking good under here, I'm gonna keep going." No further radio transmissions were received from the accident pilot. When the airplane failed to arrive at its intended destination, a search was launched. The day following the accident, airplane debris and personal items that were positively identified as belonging to the occupants of the airplane were found floating on the surface of the lake. The debris indicated that the airplane impacted the surface of the lake. Despite an extensive search, neither the occupants nor the airplane have been recovered, and, due to the depth of the lake, a recovery mission is unlikely. Weather camera images, surface weather observations, and upper air observations indicated that the weather conditions at the time of the accident likely included freezing fog and mist, low visibilities and ceilings, and moderate or greater icing conditions in the clouds covering the accident area. Therefore, the accident flight likely encountered instrument meteorological conditions shortly after departure and rapidly began accumulating structural and/or induction icing. However, because the airplane was not available for examination by investigators, the possibility of mechanical failure or malfunction could not be ruled out.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.