Piper PA-12-150 N7511H

Summary

On 23 September 2018 at about 00:00 local time, a Piper PA-12-150 registered N7511H was involved in an accident near Healy, Alaska, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 September 2018 at 00:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Healy, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

63.9003, -147.7333

Aircraft

Piper PA-12-150

Registration

N7511H

Category

Airplane

Year built

1946

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fairbanks → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

Unk

Light

Not Reported

NTSB number

ANC18FA071

2 people died.

An impact with terrain for reasons that could not be determined based on the available information.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was performing a personal flight with one passenger to hunt sheep in remote mountainous terrain. After the pilot failed to report to his place of employment 4 days after their departure, an extensive SAR operation was launched the following day. The wreckage was located 2 days after the SAR operation began in a remote snow-covered mountainous valley. The airplane came to rest upright, with the fuselage banking to the right, both wings indicating forward/aft crushing, and the tail slightly elevated with little impact damage. The date and time of the accident could not be determined. Thus, the meteorological conditions before and at the time of the accident could not be determined. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The aft right wing spar exhibited signs of compression bending, with the right forward spar exhibiting aft bending. The aft left wing spar bolt indicated a failure in tension, and the left forward spar indicated forward bending. A postcrash fire incinerated a large portion of the wreckage. The pilot did not file a flight plan. If the pilot had filed a flight plan, SAR assets would have focused on a specific search area which would likely have reduced the time to find the airplane. Although the accident was likely not survivable due to the impact forces, a filed flight plan would have reduced the risk to aerial SAR assets operating in remote mountainous terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.