Piper PA-18 N7123K

Summary

On 10 November 2022 at about 20:40 local time, a Piper PA-18 registered N7123K was involved in an accident near Chickaloon, Alaska, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

10 November 2022 at 20:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Chickaloon, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

61.7811, -148.4616

Aircraft

Piper PA-18

Registration

N7123K

Category

Airplane

Year built

1950

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Palmer → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC23FA004

1 person died.

The pilot's decision to fly at low altitude, which resulted in a collision with a cable.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot was flying low over a river when the airplane impacted an unmarked cable suspended about 30 ft above the water. The wings were separated from the airframe and a portion of the cable remained wrapped around the right wing. The engine remained attached to the airframe. The propeller blades remained attached to the engine crankshaft flanges, and gouges consistent with cable impact were present along the leading edge of one of the blades. Although the pilot had mild-to-moderate coronary artery disease, given the circumstances of the accident, it is unlikely that the pilot’s coronary artery disease contributed to the crash. Toxicology testing of the pilot’s tissue indicated the presence of a cannabis product. One accredited laboratory detected the psychoactive cannabinoid delta-9-THC in blood, while the other did not. No active metabolite of delta-9-THC was detected, and the nonpsychoactive metabolite carboxy-delta-9-THC was detected at low levels only. Based on these results and the accident circumstances, it is unlikely that cannabis significantly affected the pilot’s decision to fly at low altitude or his failure to avoid the unmarked cable.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.