Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Tanana Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tanana, Alaska 99777
Friday, September 21, 2001 17:30 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The certificated commerical pilot was about 26 miles from his destination airport when be began to note telltale signs of an electrical failure. The airplane's instrument panel-mounted ammeter indicated zero, and the pilot shut off all of the airplane's electrical equipment. When he arrived at the destination airport, he placed the landing gear extension handle in the down position, but the gear failed to extend, and the gear down lights did not illuminate. The pilot followed the flight manual procedures for an emergency gear extension by slowing the airplane to 87 knots, holding the landing emergency gear lever in the "EMERGENCY DOWN position, while fish-tailing the airplane. In an attempt to determine if the landing gear was down, he checked the airplane's shadow and noted that the gear appeared to be down. During touchdown the left main landing gear collapsed, and the left wing struck the surface of the runway. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the voltage regulator failed, which subsequently led to the loss of electrical power. The accident airplane is equipped with a retractable tricycle landing gear, which is hydraulically actuated by an electrically powered reversible pump. Use of the emergency extension handle manually releases hydraulic pressure, allowing the landing gear to free fall, to the down position. In the case of a complete electrical failure, the landing gear down lights will not illuminate.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An unlocked landing gear mechanism during landing roll. A factor associated with the accident was an electrical system failure.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/21/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1730 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Tanana |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99777 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 651046N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1520556W |
| Event Location Airport | Tanana |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PATA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12088 |
| NTSB Notification Source | |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 21 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1830 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 26 2002 11:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Anchorage FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4352F |
| NTSB Number | ANC01LA145 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32R-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32R-7680441 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 17 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 21.4 |
| Airframe Hours | 8170.8 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Harold Esmailka |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ruby |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99768 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Tanana Air Service, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Fairbanks |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99706 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | FAI |
| Departure City | Fairbanks |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1615 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | TAL |
| Destination City | Tanana |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 12 2002 2:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 4400 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |